


You Jump, I Jump

by StrawberryGirl87



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drarry, Fluff and Angst, Jump - Freeform, M/M, Malfoy, Submissive Draco, Top Harry, draco - Freeform, harry - Freeform, potter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-03
Updated: 2013-08-11
Packaged: 2017-12-22 07:13:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 53,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/910409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrawberryGirl87/pseuds/StrawberryGirl87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hogwarts no longer feels like home to Harry, it is time to move on but he has nowhere else to go where he can feel like he can be accepted as the used and broken hero that he is. Standing on the precipice of uncertainty he finds a helping hand offered to him from the most unlikely of people. Draco Malfoy is willing to stand by his side when things seem extremely bleak. Together they fight to carry on when it feels as if everyone is against them. The only thing they both want is to be accepted fully and without question. Life and love isn't perfect but they will learn to be friends and maybe even more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Chapter One

It no longer felt like home to Harry Potter. He had once counted Hogwarts as his home because he had nowhere else to go that would accept him but after spending the previous year away too much had changed and his beloved castle no longer had a place for him. Even as he struggled to remain standing, rooted in the entrance hall, his aching body protesting fiercely at his refusal to rest, the castle had begun to repair itself.

Everything was eerily quiet. Everyone asleep, recovering and taking comfort in each other. But not Harry. He couldn't sleep, at least not here. If he stayed then he would be swept up in the aftermath of battle. Even now he knew that in a few hours Ministry officials would be arriving to document the dead and to claim the body of Tom Riddle. He didn't want to be here for that.

But where else was he meant to go? He remained unmoving in the entrance hall, looking around him, taking in every broken stone, the rubble that lay upon the ground, the cracks in the grand marble staircase repairing themselves before his very eyes.

The front doors of the castle thrown open and had remained that way, mounds of stone propping them open. Harry sighed, a silent trickle of a tear slowly trickled down his cheek. He had never felt more alone than in that moment. Outside he could see the beginnings of a storm, black thunder clouds rolling overhead, the first flashes of lightening in the distance warned of the downpour to come. It had been too hot for days and this would be their payment for that.

He thought of Ginny upstairs, she would probably be waiting for him and even though he craved that comfort he couldn't accept it from her without giving her false hope that he would always accept it from her and only her. He couldn't make that commitment to her and he doubted he ever would. He was done doing what was expected of him.

He knew that he was leaving the only thing that was stopping him was that he had nowhere to go. He hadn't even showered or changed his clothes since his defeat of Voldemort, he felt tired, dirty and beyond all else he felt utterly broken. A part of him that hadn't really been him at all was gone and without that small part of Tom Riddle languishing inside of him he didn't know who he was.

He had come back because the job he had been tasked with hadn't been finished, now it was he was lost. He couldn't understand why, when Voldemort had taken his last breath why he hadn't also perished. That was what he had expected to happen and instead here he stood, alone and cold waiting for something and he didn't even know what. His friends could take comfort in one another, it was over for them, they could move on, they could live their lives but Harry knew he wouldn't be able to do that.

Too much had happened, he had lost too much and too many. Remus and Tonks would never watch their son grow up because of him. George had lost his twin and best friend because of him. Dobby had died to save him. Sirius had died because of his stupidity. No family would be the same even now that the war was over. There had been too much death and it pained Harry. He felt every death … he had cared too much and now the guilt wracked his body with agonising and undeniable accuracy.

The rain began to fall, a torrential deluge of water pouring down upon the castle, washing away the blood and cleansing the school grounds. Moving his leaded feet slowly but steadily Harry moved to the arch of the door frame, staring out into the darkness of the night. He watched as murky puddles of water began to form and the rain droplets poured down endlessly into them causing ripples upon the surface.

So wrapped up in indulging himself with his guilt ridden thoughts of loss, death and the end of everything that he had known in life that he failed to hear the footsteps behind him. He had taken for granted that he would be alone. He had no idea that there would be one other person with a desire to slip out of the castle late at night under the cover of darkness so that he wouldn't be seen.

"Pott- Harry," The soft drawling voice said behind him, sounding surprised to see him there. Draco Malfoy stood in the entrance hall having just come up from the dungeons. He had a bag in one hand filled with the treasures and mementos that he couldn't bear to leave behind. He too felt that after everything that had happened it was time for him to leave.

Harry turned his head to look at the boy who interrupted his inner battles. "Draco," He returned simply. Harry didn't bother to hide the tears that he had been shedding. He had every right to shed them, they were no longer a weakness, they were a sign that he had been strong for too long.

"Thank you," The blonde boy suddenly said, startling them both. They stood three meters from each other, Harry now turning to observe his companion more carefully. He noted that Draco had showered and changed his clothes since the final battle. However it was clear from the dark circles beneath his eyes that he hadn't slept in a very long time, at least not a restful sleep. Harry had never seen him dressed in anything other than robes before now and to see him stood wearing jeans and a loose fitting casual blue shirt that brought out the colour of his eyes seemed alien and unfamiliar. Like he was a different person.

"Don't," The Gryffindor returned sadly, "Everyone is thanking me … I don't want to be thanked." Draco studied the dirt and blood encrusted face and yet he didn't feel pity, instead he felt sad. He couldn't even begin to understand the horrors he had been through, the struggle of the past year, he couldn't even begin to understand Harry James Potter post the great battle of Hogwarts.

"I owe you a wizards debt, for saving my life in the room of requirement."

"No you don't," Harry returned simply, "You knew it was me when we were caught by snatchers and taken to your home, you could have told Bellatrix but you didn't. You owe me nothing. Your mother also saved my life in the forbidden forest when she lied to Voldemort, the debt is mine to repay to you and your family. I'll honour that and ensure that you don't go to Azkaban."

The rain continued to pour outside, relentless as it thrashed against the stone walls of the castle. "Are you leaving?" Draco asked as Harry turned back to watch the rain.

"I want to," He said, his voice barely a whisper as Draco took a few hesitant steps towards him.

"What's stopping you?" He asked putting his bag down as he came level with Harry and joined him staring out into the night, relishing the rhythmic pattering of the rain as it hit the stone ground.

"I've got nowhere to go," Harry said honestly. The aversion to each other they had shared during the last six years had evaporated in the shadow of war. They weren't so different the two of them. Both doing what they thought they were supposed to do, what was expected of them. Silently they recognized this in each other, the common ground that they had failed to find when they were eleven.

"Neither have I," Draco returned, "I just know that I can't be here." Harry smiled as his companion voiced exactly how he felt.

"Where will you go then?" Harry asked, curious now.

"I didn't have a plan," Draco admitted feeling foolish. "I was just going to start walking and not stop … just follow my feet and see where I end up."

"That sounds wonderful," Harry said with a faint smile. It was the first trace of happiness he had had since Tom Riddle had died his final death. Together they stood, kindred spirits, side by side staring out at the bleak night that even as thunder rumbled overhead and lightning flashed in the distance it was still peaceful.

"I know that we haven't ever really been friends …" Draco began not really knowing why he was saying this and struggling with it. "What I guess I'm trying to say is … Why don't you come with me?"

Harry turned his head to look at Draco, who continued to stare out into the night. For a moment there was silence as the broken saviour studied his companion as if trying to figure out the validity of the Slytherin's offer. "Do you mean that?" He asked, Draco turned to look at Harry and their gazes met. Swirling silver and intense emerald locked together and oddly found comfort in the plain truth that they both found there.

"Yes," Was the simple reply that Harry heard but in that one word response there was truth, there was need and there was hope, three things that as Harry had stood staring off into the distance, enjoying the darkness and oblivion of the night, he had doubted ever feeling again.

"Can I ask you why?" Harry asked, his eye's never leaving those of Draco, the connection that they had found there intense and desperate. More words were spoken into the silence without their lips ever moving as they remained staring into each other's eyes.

"Because I never mattered before you. I was trapped in the room of requirement and was on the brink of burning to death because of my own stupidity. I knew that was what I deserved, I would die and no one would care that I was gone. But then I saw that you were coming back to save me. It was the first time in my life that I believed I mattered, that someone cared enough to save me."

The honesty in Draco's voice ran true and Harry could find no reason to doubt that what he was saying was the truth. His heart ached for what Draco must have gone through in the last year. In the constant company of Voldemort and Bellatrix. It couldn't have been easy on him and he felt sorrow for his class mates plight.

"Your mother cares about you." Harry stated, "It was the reason she lied to Voldemort to save me. She wanted to get to you, to make sure that you were okay. She knew that there was no other way she would be able to see you again."

"My mother and I have said our goodbyes, she intends to return to France to live, away from the bad memories and my father."

"You wouldn't go with her?" Harry asked, wanting to be sure that if they left this castle together then that would be how it would stay. The two of them together, fleeing from the aftermath of war, trying to find some escape from what they had both seen and done.

"No, it isn't where I need to be," Draco said with certainty.

"Where do you need to be?" Harry asked, feeling sad that he didn't have a clue where he needed to be.

"I don't know yet," He admitted, "I just know it isn't there and it isn't here. All I do know is that trying to find that with you feels pretty good to me." Draco grabbed his bag off the floor and offered his hand to Harry who looked at it with hope and even longing.

Leaving with Draco without knowing where they were going or what they were going to do felt good to him too. A positive feeling swelled up within him as he took the blondes hand with certainty. Their fingers intertwined and somehow it felt as if it were right.

Together they looked forward and took their first step into the night, the rain still driving down around them. Within minutes their clothes were soaked through, water dripping from their hair, going down the backs of their necks and running down their backs.

The thunder rolled through the air above them and they kept walking, their hands still joined. Neither knew what it meant that it felt so faultless, like this was what was meant to happen. Reaching the gates into the school they both hesitated for a moment.

"This is it," Harry said, his voice unwavering in its certainty.

"Are you ready?" Draco asked taking a deep breath and letting the rain wash over him. It felt wonderfully splendid and amazingly freeing.

"You jump, I jump Jack," Harry muttered feeling a little giddy.

"What?" Draco asked, turning to Harry with confusion as to why he had just been called Jack, the Gryffindor only smiled.

"It's a muggle movie," Harry said, "Remind me to show it to you one day."

"Alright," Draco said with a fond smile, he could already tell that the journey they were about to embark on wasn't going to be dull in any sense of the word. "You jump, I jump," He repeated sounding very sure of himself.

With those final words they stepped over the threshold and out of the grounds of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry ready to start on their next adventure, whatever came next they would face it together.


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

The first stop for the endlessly travelling teenagers at the beginning of their boundless journey together was uninspiringly the Leaky Cauldron. To set out on an unplanned and un-plotted adventure like this they would need funds. Sadly Gringotts would not open until morning at the very earliest. Even though neither wanted to be seen in Diagon Alley they had no choice. Harry wasn't even sure that Gringotts would welcome him back after his last visit but he had to try.

The rain continued to hammer down endlessly upon the roof of the old London pub and the thunder rumbling ominously overhead suited their sombre moods. Though having the company of each other felt wondrously normal and much preferable to being alone. Silence seemed comfortable between them as they entered their small room with twin beds and shut the door, closing themselves off to the world and finding peace in the small space they were to share for the night.

"I think I'm going to shower," Harry said decisively, his tone quiet and calm, Draco nodded as he settled down on one of the small single beds. There was barely half a meter of space between them, the sheets were old and well used but that wouldn't matter. It was at least somewhere to sleep for what remained of the night.

Harry was grateful for the shower. Hot water cascaded down on to his broken skin, making the still open wounds sting terribly. The rain already having washed much of the dirt and blood away. His limbs ached with the effort of continued movement. His muscles burned every time he took a step or raised his arms. His entire body felt as if it were crashing. He needed to shut down for a few hours. As much as Harry would have wanted to remain under the jets of steaming water for hours, allowing the grime and vivid recollections of the war wash away down the drain he just didn't have the strength to remain there. He barely had the strength to remain on his feet at all.

Leaving the bathroom with a towel clutched around his waist and feeling subconscious about his lack of clothing and wanting to hide his body from view he hovered uncertainly in the threshold between the bathroom and bedroom. "I'm sorry," Harry said shyly, keeping his head bowed in shame "I don't have any …" He trailed off helplessly. Draco understood at once and rummaged in his backpack for some spare pyjamas.

"You can borrow these," Draco said as he handed them over. Harry smiled at him appreciatively before scurrying back into the bathroom to dress without first checking what he had been given. Draco had provided some boxer shorts and drawstring pyjama trousers but that was all. Harry was of course grateful of these items, they were clean and fit him well, a luxury he had foregone while on his endless camping trip with Ron and Hermione. He had never noticed that he and Draco were almost the same size, both a little too skinny for their age. It was the lacking of a t-shirt or anything to cover his upper body that worried Harry.

He felt stupid to feel this embarrassed when he had walked out in only a towel a second ago but that had been to retrieve clothing and that had been difficult enough. Looking himself in the mirror he disgusted himself. Scars marred his entire body but nowhere more than his torso, arms and neck. Thin white scars stretched across his olive skin, a large gash down his right side, various marks where curses had made contact with him. Then there were the ones that hadn't become scars yet. The freshly cut wounds, grazes across his upper chest, scratches across his abdomen. There were also bruises in various stages of healing too, some purple and blue, others green and yellow, all of them clearly distinguishable on his too thin frame. His body was as broken and damaged as his soul.

Turning away from the mirror, unable to stand the sight of himself any longer he broke down, tears streaming down his cheeks as his legs finally gave way and he crumpled to the floor, useless and exhausted.

At the resounding crash his body made as it came into contact with the tiled bathroom floor Draco came running in. Unlocking the door with a wave of his wand and taking in the scene before him. Harry was curled up on the floor, his knees tucked under his chin, tears streaming from his eyes. His arms that were wrapped tightly around his legs were marred with bruises and cuts. Injuries caused over the last year of constant running and fighting, never resting, always paranoid. It pained him to see the damage that had been inflicted on one person in a never ending tirade of abuse.

Draco had never seen Harry this closely before, or this undressed. Now that he was fresh from the shower the scars, wounds and bruising that he had suffered throughout the course of the war were clearer than ever. Kneeling down before him he took in the broken hero, his heart breaking at the sight of the once strong Golden boy shattering so completely before him.

"Harry …" He said tentatively, "Will you talk to me?" Draco asked pleadingly, finding that he had the overwhelming urge to help and to attempt to fix the boy-who-lived, even to protect him from anything that might try to hurt him further.

"I shouldn't be here," Harry said in whispered words, to hear him say them made Draco fall back, hurt.

"We could always go back," The blonde said softly, his heart heavy. At first running from Hogwarts alone had been the most comforting thought he had but now that they had embarked on this journey together Draco wasn't sure that he could do on without Harry a constant presence at his side. They needed each other, he was sure of it, they needed to be strong for one another so that they both survived. The war had only been the first emotional hurdle to survive, it was the aftermath that scared him the most, dealing with the things they had seen, the things they had been forced to do. This was the beginning of an entirely new struggle.

"I don't want to go back," The Gryffindor responded sadly, "I don't mean that I shouldn't be here in this room with you, I mean I shouldn't be alive." So much pain echoed in his voice, the sorrow ripping through the other boy as if it were a blade. To hear Harry speak so plainly and so honestly cut him to the core.

Draco moved so that he could sit beside Harry, both leaning against the wall, the hard tile uncomfortable to sit on but neither cared for numb bums when the pain in their hearts was so intense that it was hard to bear. "You're too strong to die, too loved." Draco responded as he reached his hand forward and offered it to the Gryffindor who had turned to look at his companion with watery green eyes. Uncurling one arm from himself he took the other boys hand within his own, the comfort of human contact not lost on either of them.

"He killed me," Harry said, this would be the first and last time he spoke about what had happened in the forest that night. He needed to tell someone, just one person and then he needed to lock it away and never think about it again because the thoughts and the feelings that came with that memory were too much to cope with. "There was a part of Voldemort inside of me. It was my job to walk silently and calmly into deaths embrace and let it take me."

"But if he killed you …" Draco said breathlessly. Their voices were so quite they were barely whispers, as if to speak about it at any higher a volume would destroy the illusion of contentment that they created sat in their tiny bathroom, hands joined desperately as if their lives depended on that small amount of contact between them.

"He killed the part of me that was him," Harry said, "When the killing curse hit me, I went to a place of limbo and I was given a choice … I could have gone on to whatever comes next."

"But you chose to come back," Draco finished for him and Harry nodded sadly. A moment of silent contemplation fell between them before Draco spoke again, "You made the right choice," He said, "I'm not sure of much but I'm sure of that."

Whenever the silence fell they could still hear the storm raging outside, the rain pouring down in its attempts to wash away the last remnants of battle, the thunder roaring with the victory they had claimed. Tomorrow life would resume as if it had never happened for so many people but he would never forget. His mind would never let him for whenever he closed his eyes he would see all of those that he loved that had died. Their sacrifice for him and for the war. All the people he would miss dearly.

"Do not pity the dead," Harry said softly, remembering the words that Dumbledore had spoken to him when they had met at Kings Cross, Harry's place of limbo, "Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love." Draco looked to him questioningly, "Dumbledore said it to me before I came back," Harry explained, "He told me that my soul was once again my own too."

"That's good isn't it?" Draco asked, "That your soul is your own?"

"I don't know," Harry said as he wiped the tears away with his free hand. "I've never been free of him, Voldemort always was a part of me ever since the first time he tried to kill me. I don't know who I am without him."

"Then we'll find out … together," Harry turned to look at Draco and gave him a weak, watery smile and a small nod.

"Together," Harry echoed giving the other teens hand a small squeeze, tilting his head to rest it upon his shoulder.

"Maybe you should rest, have you slept at all since he died?"

"No," Harry said weakly, "I'm scared too."

"Why are you scared?" Draco asked as he lent his head against Harry's.

"The nightmares, every time I close my eyes I see everyone who died, I don't want to go to sleep to relive the battle … I can't do it, I'm not strong enough." Harry said desperately, but even as he said it he could feel how heavy his eye lids felt. Being so close to Draco, the warmth of his body, the comfort of having tender human contact was just too much.

"How about I make you a promise," Draco suggested. "You let yourself fall asleep and I promise to watch over you and wake you up if you have a nightmare, I won't leave your side."

It was with reluctance that Harry finally agreed. With Draco's promise of not to leave his side while he slept they helped each other from the bathroom into the small, dingy bedroom with it's cracked walls and well slept in beds. Harry took the bed on the left and Draco the one to the right. There was so little space between the two that they didn't need to let each other go, which was a good thing because Harry needed something solid to hold on to out of fear that if he let go he would lose his grip on this reality.

They lay on their own beds, hands still joined, their heads turned to stare at each other. Draco watched Harry intently as he fought sleep, desperate to stay in the conscious world, afraid of what the unconscious one would bring. Finally thick dark lashes closed, ghosting against his cheeks, the worries and the sadness faded from his face and yet still Draco continued to look at him. Studying every curve and line on his face.

His eyes finally came to rest upon the lightning scar that sat upon his forehead, as deep and noticeable as it ever was, a constant reminder of his past, who he was, what he had done. Harry would never escape that. Draco kept his promise, watching over Harry as he slept. He never once moved, finding himself satisfied to lay with his hand still joined to Harry's and memorize every scar, every frown even the cracks in his chapped lips.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Harry slept for the rest of the night and all through the following day. Draco never moved and didn't have the heart to wake him. He didn't eat or use the bathroom, if anything urgent needed to be dealt with then he used his wand with his free hand to deal with it. His other hand remained joined with Harry's, never once breaking their contact. Refusing to let him go.

The rain had begun to ebb by the dawn, and by the afternoon the sun was shining through the window, bright and cheerful, not only the dawn of a new day but also of a new era for the entire wizarding world. The rain had done its duty and washed away the horror and the pain for everybody else but not for them. Locked in their room, away from the world and together they still suffered.

Harry didn't begin to stir until early evening but it was not pleasant nor a natural stirring from sleep that Draco would have hoped for. The warning signs were simply the twitching of his fingers within Draco's grip and a few pained groans but nothing else forewarned him of the horror to come until he screamed and started to thrash wildly in the confines of his blankets that seemed only to restrict him and make the struggling worse.

Draco instantly threw himself out of bed and over to Harry, determined to rouse him from the nightmare as he had promised to do, attempting to shake him awake with as much force as he dared to use without hurting the fragile boy. He found Harry to be drenched in cold sweat even though his body was hot to the touch.

Draco started to panic when he saw tears falling from closed eyes and Harry went rigid, the screaming had ceased but he was clearly in agony still and there seemed that there was nothing he could do for him. He had broken his promise. "Please Harry," Draco pleaded, "Come back to me."

He lay down on the bed beside the Gryffindor boy, one hand on his chest where he could feel the racing heart beating beneath. "Nothing can hurt you now." He whispered, wanting to believe the words that he spoke but finding it hard knowing that Harry was hurting even now. The war may have been over but it lived on within the confines of his subconscious and it probably always would.

At his words he felt Harry relax but only a little, he was still shaking but not violently so, it was more out of fear than of anything else. Draco curled himself around his former enemy keeping one hand on his chest and the other he linked with Harry's hoping that this would be enough to sooth him back into a peaceful sleep and away from the horrors his unconscious mind threw at him.

Slowly green eyes blinked open, filled with fear and confusion, his entire body seemed to tremble. "Draco…" His voice was barely a ghost of a breath upon his lips, his throat hoarse from his screams.

He couldn't understand what was going on but he felt warm and safe, as if nothing could touch him. The agony and the fear of his nightmare was already fading from his mind even as his body remained trembling in his friends embrace. Harry could hardly believe that one person made him feel like this.

There was no judgement issued from the cool silver eyes that met his with understanding and compassion. Draco didn't expect him to be anything, not a hero, not a grand defender or even be sure of himself, he asked for nothing from him at all except to simply be him and be here. There were no expectations here between the two of them.

"You're still here," Harry said staring into the abyss of silver that looked at him, tracing the now familiar worry lines.

"I never left," Draco said as they simply looked at each other. There was no more than an inch between the tips of their noses, Harry beneath the blankets, Draco on top of them but both of them topless. One of the Slytherin's hands still resting upon the other teens chest where his beating heart had returned to his regular thumping rhythm.

"How long did I sleep?" Harry asked keeping his voice soft, fearing that speaking at any decent volume would shatter the moment that they were currently locked in. He would never get tired of watching the swirling blue and silver of Draco's stunning irises. They were rememorizing in their complexity.

"Almost a day," Draco responded, "I reckon you needed it."

"We were supposed to go to Gringotts, we were meant to leave," Harry said in a sudden panic but still never moving, only feeling himself fill with regret that he had slept for so long and delayed their plans.

"We can go tomorrow," Draco said soothingly. "Harry, you've been through hell and back, we don't need to rush, rest."

"Will you stay here with me?"

"I'm not leaving Harry."

"I mean here, where you are, next to me." Harry had never shared a bed before, he had never minded the space of having a bed all too himself until he discovered the comfort that having another person lying beside him could give him. It didn't matter that it was Draco Malfoy or that he was a man that was all trivial to him. All that mattered to Harry was that another person, a human being, wanted to be this close to him.

Someone could stand to touch his damaged body that would never look anything close to normal again. In Harry's heart love was love no matter who he felt it for. All that mattered to him was who was here in the moment with him, helping him, supporting him, caring for him. Love had been the emotion that had saved him and it continued to as he was lulled back to sleep by the comforting warmth of Draco Malfoy by his side.

They both drifted off to sleep and managed to sleep through the night without nightmares disturbing them. To see the two teenagers slumbering together would have you believing that they were something more than friends seeking comfort. They shifted throughout the night so that come the dawn they were both on their sides, Draco curled around Harry's body, spooning him. Both were beneath the one single blanket, encompassed in their shared warmth where nothing, not even their deepest, darkest nightmares could reach them.

It was Harry to rouse first, stirring slightly as the weight of his full bladder made him uncomfortable and therefore unable to return to sleep. The sun was only just starting to creep its way up into the sky. He felt so content and warm that he didn't want to move, with Draco breathing deeply to his rear peacefully it seemed such a shame to move and wake him. However there was no denying his bladder the release it craved and his wand was just too far away, either way he was going to have to get up and out of bed.

Carefully he lifted the possessive arm that had encircled his waist so that he could slip out of the bed unnoticed and head for the bathroom on tip toe so not to wake the sleeping Slytherin. Only once he had dealt with his bathroom needs that included brushing his teeth did he return to the bedroom and take the opportunity to assess his companion more fully.

The war hadn't been kind to either of them. Draco was just as scarred as Harry. He was too thin for his height and his blonde hair limp and lifeless. There were unattractive dark circles beneath his eyes even in sleep. His skin was paler than Harry could ever remember it being, almost like white marble in its perfection. Some of the scars seemed to fade into his skin as if they weren't there at all but Harry could see them as they were so similar to his own.

Sitting back down on the bed he traced his fingertips over the ones he knew he had caused, a pang of guilt striking him suddenly as he recalled the vicious curse he had thrown in his sixth year without knowing what it would do or understanding its purpose. Oh how regretful he was about that now. There were others now too, signs that he had been tortured at length for the pleasure of another, sure signs that he had been kept under Voldemort's regime of fear, contained with the threat of torture and continued agony.

Harry hadn't even realised that as the tips of his fingers had ghosted across the pale skin that silver eyes had flickered open and watched him intently. "He hurt you a lot didn't he," Harry said when he realised that Draco was now awake and watching him curiously.

"I was his youngest recruit, skilled at deflecting him from my mind I was a fascination to him. Of course I feared him like all the others but he liked so much to torture me whenever my father didn't rise to his expectations. My mother said that he didn't do enough to keep me safe. She never wanted me to be branded with the dark mark."

"Would you let me see?" Harry asked tentatively as Draco sat up so that they were both sat cross legged on the single bed, able to see each other more clearly. The blonde bore his left forearm to the Gryffindor who took it within his hands as if it were the most fragile material known to man. He ran his fingers across the branded skin finding it smooth to the touch. He could see that even now the mark failed to move as it once had and was beginning to fade away, in a few years it would barely be visible, just another scar.

"It's fading," Harry stated

"I'll always know that it's there," Draco replied, "Even now that he's gone it still twinges on occasion but maybe that's just a phantom pain, me remembering how much it used to hurt."

"Am I … Does this?" Harry asked suddenly withdrawing his hand in a panic that he might have been making it worse.

"No, it actually feels nice …" Draco admitted a little sheepishly, "I mean … no one has touched it before, they've all been too scared." Harry felt more at ease here than he had the night before. Draco and he had a connection that Ron and Hermione would never understand. Harry had been so ashamed of his scars, unable to show them to anyone because he would thought of as a freak. He had survived the war but had been irreversibly damaged by it. His body an eternal reminder of the torment he had suffered but here he sat, in front of a boy who had suffered just as much as he had, just as scarred. Though their experiences and horrors differed their bodies held the same tell-tale marks and scars.

"I'm sorry," Harry whispered, bowing his head.

"Why are you sorry?" Draco asked using his finger to gently tip Harry's back up so he could look imploringly into his striking emerald eyes, he found them so beautiful.

"For not being able to stop him sooner, for causing some of these scars that you have, if I had known what that curse did …"

"Don't," Draco said with a hint of sadness in his voice, he didn't want to think about his sixth year any more than Harry did. He was so ashamed of the things that he had done, all of them because he had been so scared of what Voldemort might do to him or his mother if he didn't carry out his orders. "I started that fight, I didn't have to throw the first curse."

"I didn't even know what the curse did, I found it in an old potions book, Severus' old potion book. I should never have used it, I could have spared you a few of these scars."

"It's done and it's forgotten, we were both young and foolish. There are a lot of things that I would like to change between the two of us but it's the past that makes us who we are today. If we hadn't done what we did we wouldn't be sitting here, together. I wouldn't change what this is now for any amount of happy memories in my childhood. Our struggles have brought us here and made us stronger, I have to believe that because otherwise what was it all for?"


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Leaving their room at the Leaky Cauldron was surprisingly hard for the two of them. Their room had been a safety net for them both, like two children with a security blanket that they couldn't bear to the parted with. It had protected them from what was happening in the world outside and sheltered them when they had needed it most, giving them the solitude to simply be. However it was painfully clear that they would not be able to remain here when the Daily Prophet had announced across its front page the disappearance of Harry Potter.

They had seen it when they had attempted to venture out together to claim their galleons so to begin their journey both mentally and physically on the road to recovery. They had left it too long and now Harry was officially a missing person within the wizarding community. Everyone knew his face and would be looking for him. The Witches and Wizards that cared and supported him would not allow their hero to simply walk away from his fame and glory. There was no way that Harry could simply wander through Diagon Alley as if nothing was out of sorts. If he were spotted then there was no doubt in his mind that he would be dragged either to Hogwarts or the Ministry where he would be celebrated. He didn't want to be celebrated, he wanted to be left alone. He didn't understand how no one could understand this.

They didn't want to separate from one another anymore than they wanted to be recognized on the street, it was a difficult decision to make but finally they decided that they had no other choice but momentarily part ways for otherwise they would be stuck here in their dingy hotel room, waiting to be discovered. They needed money or they wouldn't get far.

The two of them had bared themselves wholly to each other since they had left Hogwarts and were not ready for that to be over just yet, they wouldn't let something as trivial as money stop them from continuing onwards together.

Draco walked down the cobbled street feeling very much alone and scared without Harry at his side, keeping his head low so not to be noticed and yet he still felt eyes on him, glaring at him. He was unwelcome here. The battle was over and the Malfoy name held no merit any longer. No one feared or respected him because of his blood status and money in fact they thought less of him because of it. This was how it would always be now, he knew that and he had come to terms with it. He couldn't have been happier that he would soon be leaving here.

The Gringotts Goblins were not thrilled to see him but they helped him none the less and he was able to take a large chunk of his fortune out of his personal vault, some of which he converted into muggle money as per Harry's instruction. The Gryffindor had despised the fact that he was unable to gain access to his own vault, hating that everyone in the wizarding world was looking for him. He didn't want to be found, not yet anyway. He was determined that until he was ready he wouldn't be. He had spent a year on the run from Voldemort and countless snatchers without being caught, he could do that again.

During Draco's absence the small bedroom had felt horribly empty and even cold. The silence had quickly surrounded him, encompassing him with his depression and overwhelming guilt. He missed the presence, the familiar beating of another heart and the small noises that came with cohabiting with another person. He had curled up in a ball on his bed that he had shared with Draco, the familiar scent still lingering upon the pillow.

If he had been brave enough then he might have closed his eyes, imagined that Draco was still lying beside him. However he was too fearful that he might fall asleep. Without the other teen beside him he feared his nightmares would come back to claim him. His entire body was wrapped up in Draco's scent as he wore the blondes clothing as he had none of his own. However he lacked his warmth, his compassion, the swirling of silver orbs that he could never get enough of staring into.

Separation for the two of them after the short time they had spent together was too much. With Harry curled up so tightly to inhabit as little space as physically possible waiting for his companion to return he allowed silent tears to fall with missing him.

He kept his mind occupied with wondered what Ron and Hermione were doing now. Had they been the ones who alerted the Daily Prophet that he was missing? Was it possible that maybe they understood his need to disappear and had just allowed him to go? Perhaps it had been Ginny and she was still waiting for him. However he couldn't believe that it was her either.

No, he was certain that his friends would not betray him like that, instead it was the wizarding world, they needed their hero, they needed to celebrate him, worship him for his triumph. Harry however found that he wasn't interested in any of that, he wasn't that person anymore and would never be again.

He had walked into the open embrace of death and death hadn't wanted him. No one wanted him, not for who he was now that he lacked a part of Voldemort's soul. No one wanted him apart from Draco, who was perhaps the only person who truly saw him. He could look past the façade of the boy-who-lived, the golden Gryffindor and see that he was just a boy. He had been robbed of childhood innocence, forced to be someone that he never wanted to be and left wondering if his life was really worth living now that his mission was done.

"Harry," The Slytherin said as he came back, scared that he might find Harry gone. This fear had filled him every second that he had been gone. He had been terrified of finding their room empty, that Harry would have taken the chance to slip out and Draco would once again be alone. This scared him more than he would ever have thought was possible. The idea that he might one day lose Harry didn't bear thinking about.

"Dray …" Was the whispered reply that made Draco's heart soar. No one had ever shortened his name in such a sweet way or said it so sweetly either. To hear it whispered softly from Harry's lips made him want to hold the boy and never let go. When he saw that he was upon the bed he shed his cloak and went to lie beside him.

"You've been crying," Draco said, observing the damp tear tracks upon the olive skin as he settled upon the bed beside his friend, laying down beside him. Like magnets their hands found each other and joined together. Their peaceful contentment surrounding them once more now that they were together again.

"It doesn't matter," Harry said quietly.

"It matters to me," Draco responded looking to Harry imploringly, willing him to divulge his pain on to him. All he wanted to do was be there and to help the fragile teenager who was close to breaking down completely and irreversibly. He knew that he would do anything for him.

"It's stupid," Harry said feeling foolish for having shed a tear for such a trivial emotion when there were so many stronger ones raging inside of him that should have taken over. However it was this one emotion that had stirred him to tears in the absence of one person and Harry couldn't even figure out why.

"Tell me," Draco pleaded, he wanted Harry to feel secure and safe enough to be able to tell him anything. He wanted them to share their deepest, darkest secrets, the fears that haunted them and the regrets they had.

Draco found himself enjoying the flush of red that lit up the otherwise gaunt cheeks of the underfed Gryffindor. "I missed you," Harry admitted and it lightened Draco's heart to hear him say those words. It meant that he wasn't feeling these stirring emotions alone, what they were sharing in their intimately personal moments together as a joint experience.

"I missed you too," Draco returned, "I hated every minute that we were apart. I was scared that I would come back and you would be gone."

"Where would I go?" Harry asked but it was not a question that Draco could answer. "I've never wanted to be anywhere as much as I've wanted to be with you."

"Well I'm not going anywhere and now we have the money to go anywhere you want to go and we'll do it together."

"There is somewhere I need to go first," Harry said and it pained him to think of that place. It may only have been brick and mortar but it symbolised more than that. Both love and loss had been experienced within the walls. The building would never be able to outgrow the shadow of war and darkness that had infected it in Harry's mind.

However he had to go back there. All of his prized belongings that he didn't think that he could live without he had charmed to return themselves to Grimmuald place so that if he were ever separated from them he would always know where to look to find them again. It wouldn't be long until the place was searched looking for him. It was now or never, they couldn't really delay going there no matter how much Harry wanted to.

"Anywhere," Draco replied and meant it. He would follow Harry anywhere that he wanted to go and he would do it willingly. He felt that he was a better person when he was with Harry, a stronger one too. He felt that he would be able to conquer anything as long as he was by his side.

"My Godfather left me a house when he died, I have some things there that I'd like to take with me, with us. Also I can't keep wearing your clothes," Harry said attempting a watery smile. Draco swore that he would do everything in his power to ensure that he saw that smile return, brighter and truer than what he had just witnessed. He craved desperately to make him laugh, to make him happy. He would ensure that Harry had plenty of reason to smile if he had anything to do with it.

"I quite like you in my clothes," Draco replied, "They look good on you." Harry's blush rose again and the blonde found it both endearing and sweet that he didn't know how to accept the compliments given to him. He would always enjoy seeing Harry's cheeks slightly flushed with embarrassment.

Unspoken words hung in the air. Neither of them had the words to voice them yet but they could feel them in the silence that descended as they lay together. They both silently danced around the undeniable emotions that flowed between them, their connection undeniable. Neither of them was ready to accept what they were feeling for each other, the war having damaged them too severely. It would take time for them to heal and neither Harry nor Draco could see any way of doing that without being with each other.

For both of them it was just the two of them that mattered. The Wizarding world would continue to search for their saviour. Whether they found Harry Potter would be of no consequence because the Saviour was long gone. He had been replaced by a boy who was lost and confused, uncertain of himself and his emotions. If there was anything at all that he was certain of then it was the blonde Slytherin who lay beside him, their hands joined like they were all that mattered.


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Number twelve Grimmauld Place seemed just as dark and foreboding as it ever had. Even with the weight of war lifted from it the building still stood like a beacon of depression looming over them. Draco had known this place as a child, his mother after all had been a Black. Sometimes Harry forgot the family ties that Draco had to his Godfather. Sirius had not only been his Godfather but he had also been Draco's Uncle.

"I never thought I would see this place again," Draco admitted, he and harry were stood on the street outside of the ominous building, the Gryffindor too afraid to go inside. The last time he had set foot here it had been with Ron and Hermione during their hunt for horcruxes, it had been a necessity to be there then and it was a necessity to be here again today. However this time he couldn't bring himself to go inside. Harry owned this house, he had every right to be here but that wasn't what was stopping him.

"This is harder than I thought it would be," Harry admitted, the two of them were joined by the hands, as always. It had become like second nature for them both, a comforting gesture that both enjoyed and neither wanted to analyse.

"I could always go inside for you," Draco suggested as once again they stood on the precipice of uncertainty.

"No," Harry said with as much confidence as he could muster, this was something that he had to do himself. Asking Draco to go inside and collect what he needed was the cowards choice to make. He had to face the horrors in his past or he would never be able to learn to live with them. "I have to do this," He said giving Draco's hand a small squeeze.

"Then let's do it, the two of us, together." It had almost become their mantra, to say that they would do it together, a never ending partnership and a promise to see each other through the worst of their nightmares. With their hands still linked they took the first hesitant step forward as if they were children just learning to walk for the first time. Harry's heart hammered in his chest, fear filling him to the core but with Draco there to support him he felt as if he might be strong enough to survive this painful journey.

Reaching the battered front door Harry took a deep breath to steady himself, withdrawing his wand and unlocking it. With a foreboding creak the door opened, daylight flooding through the open door, illuminating the dark hallway within, the gas lamps that lined the wall coming to life for them. A musty smell overpowered them as they stepped foot inside, a feeling of unease settling between them. The house itself was as deeply dank and dark as Harry always remembered it to be but there was also something familiar, something warm. It wasn't long before he figured out what.

They progressed through the corridor towards the steps that would lead them down into the basement and the house kitchen where they found the large fireplace roaring with a bright flickering flame, heating the room. The long wooden table in the centre of the room was occupied by two familiar faces that Harry had not expected.

Ron and Hermione were sat looking awkwardly at the two teenagers that had walked in, hands joined and looking terrified. "Harry…" Hermione said in a pained tone.

"Don't," Harry pleaded with her, shaking his head.

"Should I wait upstairs?" Draco asked feeling as if he really didn't belong, the first time since he and Harry had set off from Hogwarts that this emotion had ever occurred to him. These were his true friends, not him, they were the ones who had been through hell an d back to destroy Voldemort. He hadn't done any of that for him.

"No," Harry said instantly, gripping Draco's hand tighter and making the Slytherin's doubts vanish in a second. "Stay, please."

Ron glared at them both, none of them had failed to spot that they were holding hands. "We thought that you might come here, we had hoped you would, to collect your things," Hermione said explaining why they were just sat here waiting. "When you left, we were worried."

"I'm fine," Harry lied, "I just couldn't deal with everything, I still can't."

"But why with him and why are you holding hands?" Ron spat out viciously, Harry grimaced at the tone that his best friend used. He had disregarded the past behaviour, he didn't want Draco hurt anymore, not when he had done so much for him already.

"It's hard to explain but we're friends, we're helping each other," Harry said slowly and quietly, never once loosening his grip. "I can't go back to the wizarding world, at least not yet."

"Why," Hermione asked, "We're your friends, who could understand better than us what you're going through?"

"The two of you stood by my side, you had so much faith in me and together we defeated him, I couldn't have done that without you. I trust that you know that but this is something else. I don't know who I am or why I survived. I love you both dearly, I will always love you but I need you to keep trusting me, please," Harry begged with them, "I need you to understand that it's important for me to just disappear for a while. I need to figure out where I belong."

"And Malfoy, where does he fit into this?" Ron asked as if Draco weren't stood before him, pointedly ignoring him.

"I owe him my life Ron and vice versa, neither of us truly belongs in that world anymore. After everything that has happened please don't make me explain this. This is what it is, we're friends, I need him. As soon as I have my things we'll be leaving and we won't be coming back to the familiar places anymore. I'm asking you not to come looking for me again."

"How can you ask that of us Harry, after everything that we've been through together, how can we just let you walk away not knowing if we'll ever see you again? The whole wizarding world is looking for you!" Hermione said, clearly upset.

"I know how difficult …"

"No you don't," Ron said standing up now, his voice raised, "You just left, we needed you, everyone did and you just fucked off with Malfoy. How selfish can you get?"

Harry could speak, he was just too shocked, hurt by what Ron had said. Draco however was fuming. He had seen the physical scars Harry bore, witnessed what the emotional ones were doing to him and his supposed best friend was calling him selfish for leaving when all he had wanted to do was to heal.

"Back off Weasley," Draco snarled defensively, he wanted to protect harry no matter what the cost was. He wasn't about to let a so called friend attack him, he had been through too much to have to suffer through this as well.

"Draco don't," Harry said to him pleadingly.

"No, ferret boy has something to say, let him say it," Ron bit back with spite.

"Harry has stood up and defended the entire wizarding world since he was eleven years old, fending off a maniac trying to kill him, how can you call him selfish when after seven years he decides that he needs to get away from it all?" Draco shouted, furious that the two who were supposed to be the closest to the saviour were so blind to his pain.

"What would you know about it Malfoy, you were helping Voldemort for most of the war. You didn't switch sides until you knew he was going to die. You should be locked up in Azkaban."

"Stop it, both of you!" Hermione said getting up from the table and making herself heard. "You have to stop fighting. If Harry trusts Draco, says they're friends then we have to trust his judgement." She then turned to Harry, "Help me understand why," She pleaded with him, "I don't want you to leave but maybe if I can understand why you need to go …"

"You know that Voldemort was always a part of me Mione, ever since I was a baby there has always been a small part of Tom Riddle dictating who I was. He infected me, seeped into my personality. Now that he's gone and my soul is my own …. I don't know who I am. If I stay here then I'll be recruited to the Ministry, become an Auror and spend my life catching dark wizards and being the hero but I'm not a hero anymore. I don't know who I am without that small part of Tom's soul and I need to find out. To do that though I can't be here."

"Now that I can understand," Hermione said, wiping a tear from her eye. Reaching round and under the table where she brought out Harry's back pack. "Everything you might need or want is in here. We found here when we arrived yesterday, we knew you wouldn't go anywhere without it."

Harry looked at her gratefully, "Everything?" He asked her to be sure and she nodded.

"The cloak, the mirror, the map, the photo album, your firebolt, clothes, the tent, just in case and I've even put some potions in there that you might need, dreamless sleep and such because I know you'll still be having your nightmares. They're all labelled, I've put a few books in to help you make more if you need it. Oh Harry, I wish you didn't have to leave." She flung her arms around him and for the first time Harry had to release Draco's hand so that he could hug her back.

"I know and I'm sorry Mione," Harry returned. Then, surprising them all, she turned to Draco.

"You may not like me," She said to him sternly, "I'm not a great fan of yours either but if harry trusts you then I'm prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt. I swear that if you hurt him in any way I will hunt you down and make Voldemort look like a fluffy bunny rabbit in comparison. Do you understand me?"

Draco looked at the plain girl, startled, impressed and downright terrified of her all at the same time. He nodded, "Harry told you that he needed me, well I need him just as much if not more. I have no intention of hurting him," Draco told her honestly. Ron stood back looking at them all disapprovingly. His Weasley stubbornness was not going to let him be included in this. He would never trust Malfoy and he wasn't even a great fan of Harry at that moment. He had heard and understood all of what Harry had said about his soul and Voldemort's and needing to find himself but he still couldn't see how that meant he had to leave. Harry was his best friend and he was going to be left behind.

"Promise me that you'll keep in contact Harry, please, let us know that you're safe even if you can't tell us where you are." Hermione pleaded as she turned back to Harry.

"I promise." Harry returned before taking Draco's hand back in his own. "We'll be alright Mione, this is just something that we have to do."

Hermione watched the two of them interacting and she knew. Even if they didn't she could see the way they linked hands and the way they looked into each other's eyes. She also knew better than to say anything. She recognized the same awkwardness and uncertainty that had haunted her around Ron for years. She smiled at her friend fondly, confident now more than ever that with Draco he would be alright. She handed over his backpack and kissed them both on the cheek. "Be safe," She said quietly to them both.

Ron just stood back and didn't say a word. He had never been very good at expressing any emotion other than anger and annoyance. It had taken seven years and a war for him to finally admit to Hermione that he loved her. Seeing his best friend leave with someone who was supposed to be their worst enemy was too many complex emotions for him to deal with within the short space of time that they had so he remained quiet. He did however give them both a curt nod of his head as they ascended the staircase into the main body of the house again.

It was perhaps the result of Harry and Draco's trip to Grimmauld place and finding Ron and Hermione there so unexpectedly but it had been made painfully clear to him that there were other places that he had to go in order to find closure. He wanted to retrace his steps and figure out who he was and where he came from without Tom being a part of him. Now all he had to do was break this to Draco.


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Leaving Ron and Hermione behind was a lot easier than Harry thought it would be. Harry felt that his journey with them was done. They had tread the same path for the last eight years, now it was time to go their separate ways. The two of them had their own lives to lead now, apart from him. They were a couple now, they had to figure that out between the two of them, they didn't need Harry acting as a third wheel while they were doing that. He had his own path to follow.

Draco was strangely silent as they walked through the long, dimly lit corridor towards the front door. Harry could tell that there was something on his mind that was clearly bothering him a great deal. Simply because something was very clearly on Draco's mind bothered Harry more than it really should have done.

"Are you okay Dray?" Harry asked softly as they reached the battered old door that would lead them out on to the street and on to the next stage of their journey. The portrait of Mrs Black that stood not two feet away was still firmly closed but Harry was aware of her, silently languishing in her own hatred behind the drawn curtains, knowing that if she were awake then she would be able to hear every word they said.

Draco looked to Harry sadly, unsure of what to say or voice how he was feeling. The two of them were so intensely connected now that it seemed so trivial to seem second best to the likes of Ron and Hermione but he did. It was a feeling that he couldn't shake off.

"It doesn't matter," He said in place of the several things that went through his mind when Harry asked the question. Most of them had sounded stupid even as they had raced through his mind. He wasn't sure that he wanted Harry to know about his insecurities in regards to him. He didn't want to give away exactly how much he cared for him.

"It always matters," Harry replied, turning so that they were stood in the dimly lit hallway facing each other, "You matter." His words were soft and true, Harry was not one to speak lies even to comfort. What he said was the truth.

"I don't want to drag you away from your friends … what if I'm not enough?" Draco asked feeling extremely foolish. He had never felt adequate when it came to Harry Potter. From the moment on the Hogwarts express on their way to school for the first time when he had been refused friendship so publicly. He had been humiliated then and here he stood feeling as if that were about to happen all over again. Draco Malfoy was not the kind of person who took humiliation well, especially not from those he cared for and admired.

"How can you believe that you wouldn't be enough for me after everything you've done for me the past few days, I wouldn't have survived them without you?" Harry asked him putting his bag down and taking both of Draco's hands in his own, looking into his eyes to make him understand the truth and the honesty in his words.

"Because I'm not lucky enough to have someone like you in my life. I don't deserve you as a friend." Draco truly believed this after seeing the way Hermione had treated Harry, the care and attention she had afforded just in packing his bag, ensuring that he might have everything he needed and more. She deeply cared for him, it had been painfully obvious that he was not worthy of anything Harry Potter had to offer him. He wanted to offer the Gryffindor a way out, an opportunity to escape before they became so deeply embroiled in one another that there was no way out.

Harry looked adorably confused at how anyone could think that they weren't good enough for him when he didn't believe he had any value or self-worth at all. He raised one hand, cupping it around Draco's cheek, the blonde leaned into the tender touch, closing his eyes and relishing the touch that he was sure meant goodbye.

"This is my choice Dray," Harry said sweetly, "I'm lucky that you found me that night because I wouldn't be standing here without you. We have each other and that's all that matters now."

Both of them had serious issues with feelings of validation and worth. It was difficult when they had both experienced so much. It would take time but they wanted to make each other understand why they were the way they were and what gave them their doubts and misgivings. Only time would be able to heal the two of them.

"I want to take you somewhere," Draco said suddenly. It was a place that not even his parents had wanted to revisit with him often as it was a place that held a great deal of personal grief for their family but Draco felt that he had to go back there and pay his respects and now was the time to do it. He would never feel right with himself until he had. "Do you trust me?" He asked of Harry, knowing that asking Harry to accompany him somewhere that he had no idea of could have raised alarm bells but even as he spoke Harry remained looking calm and understanding.

"Of course," Harry said and meaning it. Aside from Ron and Hermione there wasn't anyone he could think of that he trusted more. He felt completely at ease whenever he was around Draco, it was a feeling of complete safety and contentment that he had never experienced before. Only Hogwarts castle had ever given him a feeling close to this and that was just a place of bricks and mortar, admittedly magical brick and mortar but it was still only a place.

Exiting Grimmauld place and walking out from its wards so they could apperate Draco took Harry's hand within his own. Both wore their backpacks over one shoulder and determined yet apprehensive looks on their faces. Harry took one last look at the Black family residence and decided that if he ever found what he was looking for then he might come back here and live. However for now it was not the place he needed to be. Looking up at it however he knew that one day he might be happy here.

The doom and gloom that surrounded it under the shadow of war was beginning to lift in front of his eyes. It was a place that had belonged to Sirius Black, a man whom he had loved and respected greatly. Everyone that he had ever cared about had passed through its front door. When the time came that would be the place for him to settle down but that time was not now.

He smiled at Ron and Hermione as they came and stood on the front porch to watch them leave. Ron looked a little put out, leaning against the door frame, arms folded over his chest and glaring at Malfoy with annoyance. At least there was no hatred in his gaze, which to Harry meant that given time he would come round to their friendship.

Hermione on the other hand gave them both a small wave and a large smile. Harry felt content that they knew that he was okay and at least Hermione was happy for them. He was glad that they had been there to give him that closure and now they would be able to tell the rest of the wizarding world that he was okay and just needed time to adjust. She understood and that meant more than Harry could have ever put into words. He knew that the two of them would be okay if not better without him. They had each other after all and now he had Draco. It wasn't the same as what they had and probably never would be but it was enough for him. It was friendship and companionship.

Even with their hands joined and a familiar electricity pulsing through them at their skin to skin contact he couldn't be sure what it was that he was truly feeling. Harry couldn't explain it but he liked it whatever it was but he didn't recognize it to put a name to it. He had never experienced this with anyone else before and it was strange to feel it in regards to Draco Malfoy.

Love had been such a great theme in his life and he had never felt the intense feeling towards another person. He wasn't talking about the love he had for his two best friends, he had had that for so many people, many of them having passed on into whatever came next Sirius, Remus, the whole Weasley family, his fellow Gryffindor's even Hedwig and Dobby had found a way into his heart.

However none of them had inspired the feeling to be with one person and one person only for the rest of his life, not even Ginny who he held a great fondness for. It was the love that Severus Snape had had for his mother, the love that Ron and Hermione had for each other that eluded Harry now. The kind of passion that made you want everything and be anything for that one person.

The moment before they apperated away Harry turned to look at Draco who smiled at him, "Ready," the blonde asked and Harry nodded with certainty. His eyes swept over the elegant pointed features of the handsome face, the soft blonde hair and stunning mercury eyes that he had grown so accustomed to waking up to and realised that what he felt for Draco in that moment was something akin to that intense and passionate emotion. He was in the right place and Draco was working his way into Harry's cold heart and he didn't know how to feel about that. Could this be love? Harry wasn't sure he could tell.

"Ready," Harry returned, "Together," Draco smiled at him and repeated his last sentiment. This next stage of their journey would be the hardest part for Draco. He had only been there a handful of times as a young child. His father had only been the once and never spoken of it again. He couldn't' be sure how often his mother had gone there but she would never talk about it with him or with anyone else. There hadn't even been a portrait of her in the family home when he had been growing up.

The last time Draco had gone to that place he had been eight years old, his mother had gone with him but she had refused to speak the entire time they were there. Going back seemed fitting and something he had to do for himself but taking Harry with him, this was a huge personal step, one that he was nervous about taking. However he had to trust that it was the right decision to make. He wanted to open Harry up to the world where he come from, to help him understand.

By taking Harry to that place meant something to Draco, meant that they were more than friends and that something else sparked between them. He knew that Harry might not comprehend the meaning fully straight away but he hoped that one day he would. Draco however wouldn't point it out to him, it was a realisation that Harry had to come to on his own. Their hands gripped tightly together the two of them gave one final nod of farewell to Ron and Hermione and with a pop they were gone.


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

"Where are we?" Harry asked as they hit solid ground and he stumbled slightly. Draco reached out with his free hand to steady him, ensuring that he didn't fall. "Thanks," Harry mumbled a little abashed, it wasn't like he had never apperated before and he still couldn't carry off a decent dismount from it.

"There is someone I want you to meet," Draco said, his heart beating wildly in his chest. It hadn't changed in the ten years that he hadn't visited. The same white roses decorated the gravesides, the atmosphere still quite and content. The air was crisp with tingling magic which sent shivers through their skin as they walked through the white marble grave stones. This was no ordinary resting place for there was no grey stone, the grave markers had not worn or faded, everything was made from the finest marble, carved by the most capable of craftsmen. The earth and the air seemed to be saturated with magic somehow.

Despite knowing what this place was Harry couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the beauty of it, how serene it was, he had never before set foot in a cemetery like it. They walked over to a cherry blossom tree, which seemed to give the impression that it was endlessly snowing, the light pink petals floating and fluttering endlessly to the grass beneath. Beneath the tree was a single marker where Draco brought them to a halt. It may have been ten years since he had been here last but he had never forgotten where to go.

"Cassiopeia Violetta Malfoy, 1977 – 1981, beloved daughter," Harry read from the gravestone, Draco had found himself unable to speak, unable to do anything other than stare blankly at the words before him. He fell to his knees, bowing his head and allowed his tears to shed for her. "Your sister," Harry said breathlessly as he realised that she would have died in the same year when Voldemort had killed his parents. He fell to the ground on his knees beside Draco and wrapped his arms around him. "I'm sorry," He said feeling as if those two words were the most inadequate sentiment that he could have voiced. "I never knew you even had a sister, will you tell me about her?" He requested, his voice soft as if speaking louder would disturb the dead.

"I didn't know very much about her," Draco said through strangled sobs, "She died when I was a baby, my parents never spoke about her but my Aunt did once, Bellatrix used her name to remind my mother of what happened when you didn't follow through with the Dark Lords wishes. He killed her to keep my parents in line, a constant threat about what would happen to me if they didn't do what he wanted."

"I won't let them go to Azkaban Draco, I promise you that if it comes to it I'll make a statement in their defence." Harry said, taking Draco's hand and resting his head on his shoulder. He had never heard of Cassiopeia Malfoy, she was one of the unknown casualties of the first war. Her death had gone unnoticed when shortly afterwards Voldemort had been destroyed and the world had celebrated his downfall. The four year old girl who had lost her life to him had been forgotten as the world had rejoiced, no one had remembered their pain at losing a child. No wonder the Malfoy's had disliked him so much.

"I didn't even get a chance to know her," He said sadly, "Her name wasn't permitted to be spoken in the house. To my knowledge all the portraits of her were destroyed, it was like my parents wanted to bury their grief and forget that she ever existed."

"She'll never be forgotten," Harry said comfortingly, Draco turned to look at Harry, the two of them kneeling in front of one another, barely an inch between them. "Not while you remember her and grieve for her," He whispered, placing his hand on Draco's chest where he could feel the racing heart beating beneath his palm. "She'll be in your heart and whether there are portraits of her or not she'll live on because of that."

Before he knew what he was doing Draco had raised his free hand and swept a stray hair from Harry's eyes, green met silver, the connection that they found their undeniably strong as Draco's hand lingered upon the warmth of Harry's skin. The blossoms fell from the tree, swirling around them as if encompassing them in this moment together. It was as if nature itself wanted to create the perfection of the moment, a sign that this was where they were supposed to be, together.

"Thank you for coming here with me," Draco said, his voice quite as he remained with his hand raised, stroking a strand of Harry's raven hair tenderly. "I couldn't have done it without you, I wouldn't have been strong enough."

"You're stronger than you think," Harry returned, relishing the affectionate touch that Draco offered him, his eyes tracing the outline of thin rose pink lips, wondering what it would be like to kiss him, to feel those lips upon his own.

"Not without you," Draco said, they were barely even whispering now, their voices so quite that not even the birds overhead were disturbed by them. "You give me all my strength Harry."

With Harry's hand still resting on his chest he must have felt how fast his heart raced beneath his palm, a sign of how truly nervous he felt at how close their bodies were. All he would have to do was lean forward and their lips would meet. Draco however reframed, scared that doing something like that would radically alter the perfect balance of friendship and intensity that they had obtained. This knowledge didn't make it any easier to resist as he watched Harry's tongue dart out and wet dry lips.

Draco swore inwardly, knowing that if Harry did that again he wouldn't be able to restrain himself. His breath hitched when Harry bit his bottom lip, he knew that if they didn't stop it was going to happen whether it was a good idea or not.

It was Harry who broke the moment between them, standing up suddenly but remaining close, offering his hand to help Draco to his feet. Accepting the help he found his hand in Harry's as his strong arms raised him from the ground. Their bodies still unbearably close and their hands still joined. Harry almost felt ashamed about his feelings for Draco, they had known each other for no length of time at all and yet still he was so important that without him he would feel hopeless and lost, as if he were nothing.

The pain that encompassed him as he stood not an inch from the man he wanted was like nothing he had felt before. To have him so close and be unable to take what he desired. "We should find somewhere to stay tonight," Harry said, closing his eyes, refusing to allow Draco to see the emotions that overwhelmed him. He knew his eyes would betray his calm exterior as they swirled with lust and confusion.

They had been in the cemetery for longer than they had realised, the day was fading into twilight and soon it would be night. Releasing Harry, Draco turned back to his sister, withdrawing his wand and enchanting a wreath of lilies to appear at the foot of her headstone.

"Sleep well Cassie," He said quietly to her, a slight breeze rushing through the branches of the cherry blossom answered him, sending more petals down upon them and he knew that she was listening, giving them her blessing.

Harry smiled at the sight of Draco with the blossoms swirling around him, surrounding him in their majestic beauty as they fluttered to the ground. The moment couldn't have been more perfect. Harry couldn't have been more grateful that Draco had brought him here, somewhere so beautiful and personal to him. He was beginning to understand that why they had transcended the boundaries of ordinary friendship but he just couldn't be sure if their relationship could be defined.

He was certain that what he felt for Draco was love but it was also more than that. Intensity, passion, desire, desperate need for one another, it was a combination of it all. Friendship, companionship, loyalty and trust, it had it all. He swore to himself that he would treasure every moment that he spent with the blonde Slytherin because their time together was precious. Just like everything in Harry's life he knew the happiness he felt wouldn't last forever, nothing good ever did for him. He would count his blessings as he had them and hold them in his memory forever when he was gone.

"Are you ready?" Harry asked and Draco turned to him and nodded.

"Let's just walk for a while, I don't want to apperate again. Do you mind?"

"Not at all," Harry answered with a fond smile. He offered out his hand and Draco took it, linking their fingers together. The touch felt familiar and comforting to them both as side by side they started to walk. Footsteps in sync, the warmth of the evening surrounding them and they walked in silence, lost in their own thoughts.

Draco unable to get it out of his mind how close they had come to sharing their first kiss and wondering if Harry was thinking about the same thing as him. Being together, so close was an agonising torment for him and yet he wasn't sure he would give it up if it meant never being with Harry again. He knew that one day the pain might get too much for him to cope with and he knew that if he didn't admit his feelings then he would have to leave because being so close to him and being unable to kiss him, to hold him and to make love to him in the way he wanted would eventually drain his spirit away, leaving him as useless and as broken as a man who had received the dementors kiss.

They walked until the twilight had taken over from the day and then as they reached the point where night took precedence they reached a muggle bed and breakfast. It didn't look much, in fact it far too much like the sickly sweet, flowery taste of Dolores Umbridge for Harry's liking but it was somewhere to rest for the night and neither had the energy to keep going. It had been emotional day of farewells for the both of them.

Harry smiled to himself knowing exactly what to do with Draco to while away the evening. Conjuring up a DVD player and a film to watch the two of them settled down on one of their twin beds, snuggled close to one another, Draco under the crook of Harry's arm, his head upon his chest where he could hear the steady beating of his heart.

"What are we going to watch?" Draco asked as he breathed a sigh of contentment at being so close to Harry, feeling safe and protected.

"Do you remember the night we left Hogwarts?" Harry asked and Draco nodded, remembering fondly of how they had started their life changing journey together. "I told you that you jump, I jump … well this is the film it came from. I promised that I'd show it to you one day."

Together they sat through the entirety of the film and by the end as Rose kissed Jacks hand and let him go into the water Draco was crying and it made Harry love him all the more.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Harry awoke feeling cold and alone, drenched in sweat and feeling panicked, Draco was in his own bed a few feet away with no connection between their bodies. Not even the blankets covering him seemed enough to warm Harry's icy body, he felt sticky and in dire need of a shower.

Giving up on going back to sleep he wandered through to the en-suite bathroom, starting the shower, hoping that the jets of steaming water would be enough to warm him again. He had been having a nightmare, not his usual kind that would have him physically screaming, another kind that had awakened within him since his bond with Draco had intensified at the graveyard.

Harry stood under the powerful stream of the shower, closing his eyes and embracing it as the heat turned his skin a little pink. Tentatively he reached down and held himself firmly in one hand, it was the first time he had touched himself in this way since he had started hunting horcruxes, his mind wandering to Draco and how close they had been to sharing their first kiss the day before.

He began to stroke himself, imagining what it would feel like to have Draco's lips on his, to have his body writhing beneath him, to feel his lips encase his throbbing erection, Harry's pumping sped up as he thought about how it would feel to be buried within him, how warm and tight it would be as he pushed inside of him, the blissed out face of his lover as he made him orgasm.

Draco awoke to find Harry's bed empty and instantly began to panic until he adjusted his sleep addled brain and realised that the shower was running. Relaxing a little he padded softly to the door and had been about to knock and see if it would be okay if he used the toilet quickly when he heard the unmistakable sounds of an orgasm coming from within. His breath catching in his throat he couldn't stop himself from stealing a glance through the crack in the door which was slightly ajar.

He couldn't even bring himself to feel guilty about his small act of perverted spying for the reward for doing so was so great. It was a marvellous sight to behold, to see the Gryffindor stood in all his glory, one hand supporting himself against the tiled wall and the other still grasping his erection, clearly having just reached his climax.

Quietly, stealing himself to look away, he crept back to bed, on the way switching their pillows so that he could have a small part of Harry, the smell of him would have to be enough but it wouldn't help his raging hard on at the sight of him so relaxed and blissful after his orgasm.

Draco pretended to be asleep when Harry came out of the bathroom wrapped only in a towel, he was fearful that any sight of him dripping wet and practically naked would give away how he felt. Draco knew he wouldn't be able to control himself if he saw him like that so he kept his eyes firmly closed as he listened to Harry dry and then dress himself.

Harry was still reeling from the night before when Draco had cried at the end of the film, it had surprised Harry how much it had made him care for the blonde. It had been the entirety of the day before that had made him think about what it was that he wanted to do today. Though he hadn't completely made up his mind until he had watched the Slytherin sleeping as he dressed just moments ago.

Draco had taken him somewhere personal and deeply upsetting for him, he had trusted him enough to do that and now Harry felt as if he should return the favour. More than that though he wanted to do this, he wanted his parents to meet Draco Malfoy who was turning into one of his greatest friends, if that was what you called what they shared.

"Morning," Draco said with a yawn, blinking sleepily and rolled over to find Harry smiling at him from the perch he had taken on his bed.

"Morning," Harry returned, watching as Draco stretched, unable to tear his eyes away from the prone form as it languished before him. "It's my turn to take you somewhere today," Harry declared as a way of distracting himself, his body always starting to react very positively to the sight of Draco Malfoy in nothing more than pyjama bottoms as he sat up in bed.

"Do I have time for a shower before we go?" Draco asked feeling as if, just like Harry he needed some alone time before they went anywhere.

"Sure," Harry said feeling heat rise up his cheeks as his mind wandered to the thought of what Draco would look like in the shower. He very quickly had to distract himself with a much more disturbing thought to ensure that his jeans didn't suddenly have a large bulge in them, giving away his thought process. Uncle Vernon in the shower, Harry repeated to himself over and over in his head as Draco got up and headed for the bathroom.

Once the bathroom door was shut the Gryffindor let out an audible grown and threw himself down on to the bed in frustration, surprised to find that his pillow had the familiar vanilla scent of Draco's hair. Burying his head in it he inhaled deeply, feeling only slightly confused as to how he had come to have Draco's pillow on his bed instead of his own.

They ate breakfast together but in silence at the bed and breakfast, both of them lost in thought about each other. Draco could get what he'd seen out of his head and Harry couldn't stop imagining what it might look like to see the blonde completely naked, soaping himself in the shower.

"So where did you have in mind for today?" Draco asked breaking the silence, if he didn't break himself out of this fairly sharpish then he was going to be unable to stand up and go anywhere.

"I'd like to take you to Godrics Hollow if that's alright," Harry said as he pushed some of his scrambled egg around his plate. Looking up at Draco only to gage his reaction.

"Isn't that where your parents died?" Draco asked curiously sipping carefully at his coffee, Harry nodded.

"It's where they were buried too, I've only been there once and I didn't get to stay there long as it was during the war and we were attacked. I'd like to go back there if that's okay," He said, remembering how disastrously the trip there with Hermione had been. He now wanted to share it with someone he cared for and treat going there like it was a personal desire to visit rather than a necessity in war. He couldn't think of anyone he wanted to go there with more than Draco.

"It's more than okay Harry, I'd be honoured if you'd take me there. I can only imagine how much Godrics Hollow means to you. I just want you to know that you don't have to take me there, I'd meet you somewhere later on, just because I took you to meet Cassie, it doesn't mean …" Draco said trailing off, he was a little concerned that Harry was asking him to come with him out of some Gryffindor sense of pride or duty.

"I want you to come with me Dray … please, it would mean a lot to me if you'd agree to come with me." Then Harry grew quiet and mumbled, "You mean a lot to me, I want my parents to meet you just as much as you wanted me to meet Cassie."

Draco couldn't help but smile at this, happy in the fact that Harry wanted him to be there, wanted him to meet his parents. He had even caught the part where he had said that he'd meant a lot to him. His heart had given an extra beat at this and it gave him a small flicker of hope that the two of them might have something more than just friendship.

"Then I'd be glad to come Harry," Draco said in return, "I'm sorry if I made it sound as if I didn't want to. I just thought that you might not want me to come, I didn't want you to feel as if you had to include me."

"Hey," Harry said cutting him off, catching Draco's eye and holding his gaze "Together," He said, his voice steady, meaning it. Draco nodded, feeling better at how certain Harry had sounded, he reached across the table, taking Harry's hand within his own and giving it a squeeze.

After breakfast they paid their bill and gathered up their backpacks. They decided to walk for a while first and find a safe place where they could apperate to Godrics Hollow. Unfortunately they were in an area highly populated muggle area and it wasn't easy to find somewhere where they would apperate unnoticed. Not wishing to draw attention to themselves they walked separately, though it pained them both not to be able to join hands. It was a dull ache that resounded from both of them however neither of them dared to voice it.

Draco was fascinated, he had never been in the muggle world before, his parents having never allowed it. No son of theirs would be setting foot in the muggle world that was for certain. As they strolled through a muggle high street Draco whispered to Harry, pointing at different things, amazed at what he saw, confused by mobile phones and why the muggles weighed themselves down with bags of shopping until it was explained that they couldn't shrink them or make them lighter.

The Slytherin admitted to only knowing what a television was the night before because one of his peers had had a squib as an Uncle and he had been given a portable DVD player for his birthday which he had used in the Slytherin common room frequently. Harry found it astounding that he had never heard of some of the more common place of objects like mobile phones.

It was after much deliberation that they stopped in at a phone store and bought two pay as you go mobiles, simple ones that were very cheap and therefore straight forward to use. Draco marvelled at it for a while before Harry showed him how to use it.

"Now if we get separated you can call me," The Gryffindor said showing Draco which buttons to push so that he successfully could make a call.

"Or I can send you an owl," Draco said still a little confused by the small plastic item.

"We don't have an owl with us though," Harry said with a smile, he was going to enjoy showing Draco this whole new world that he had never experienced before. It made him realise how much he wanted to share with him.

"True, then how about we just don't get separated," The blonde suggested.

"Good idea but just in case," Harry said urging him to show him that he could use the mobile phone, which he did successfully on the second attempt. Harry couldn't have been prouder of him.

"How do you know about all of this anyway?" Draco asked as they carried on walking looking for a secluded spot.

"My Aunt and Uncle on my mothers side were muggles, they raised me after my parents died. I didn't even know I was a wizard until Hagrid kicked down the front door down and gave me my Hogwarts letter," Harry explained, remembering how Draco had made him feel the first time they had met in Madame Malkins robes for all occasions, he hadn't wanted to admit that then let alone now.

"I never knew … I thought that you were raised in a magical home, knowing who you were and what you had done," Draco said a little shocked.

Harry shook his head sadly, "Remind me to take you to the house I was raised in one day, I'll tell you all about it," He said somewhat bitterly before spotting a deserted alley and pointing them in that direction. "Right now I want to focus on Godrics Hollow, today is going to be difficult enough, I don't want to think about that as well."

Nodding silently they ducked behind a dumpster and took hold of each other's hands, looking at one another as they prepared to apperate. Then with a pop they were gone.


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

When the two of them appeared in Godrics Hollow they were still stood facing each other, both hands joined and the eye contact unbroken. Harry didn't even stagger as they landed and feeling hugely proud of himself for this he smiled giddily at his companion. Draco had no idea why he was grinning like an idiot but he liked it. Seeing Harry smile was more beautiful than he could describe with words.

Glancing around the village, Harry found that it looked different than when he had been here with Hermione. It had been Christmas Eve the last time he was here, the snow had been thick and deep on the ground. The air had been crisp, their breath had hung heavily in front of them as they had ventured into the unknown, always aware of potential dangers and on alert for it. This time Harry felt more at ease, he stood in front of the house where his parents had been murdered, holding the hands of the man he cared for within his own. A feeling of euphoria encompassing him like nothing he had felt before.

Summer still hung in the air. It was nearing lunch time and the sun was high in the sky warming them as they stood perfectly still, gazing at one another. Draco was the first to turn and look at the house, breaking the eye contact. The ruins of the cottage stood proud and tall, part of the upstairs gone, blown away on the night of the attack and never repaired.

Together, still hand in hand they moved toward the ominous building that had been the site of Voldemort's first downfall when Harry was only a baby. Harry was the one to reach forward and touch the gate, watching as the memorial plaque rose in front of them, declaring the house a monument of the epic war against the Dark Lord Voldemort.

"Are you okay?" Draco asked as they stood staring at the dilapidated building. Harry however wasn't sure how he felt. He hadn't really expected anything to be here when he came with Hermione but now he just felt numb to it. This had been the place that his parents had died but he had spent so much time at Hogwarts, the place they had lived and fallen in love he didn't feel any real connection to the cottage where they had lost their lives.

"I think so," Harry responded thoughtfully, "Walk with me up to the village, I'd like to visit their graves now." Draco nodded and with a final glance over the once beautiful home that Harry should have been brought up in as a happy and loved child they turned and left.

Very few residents remained here, Harry pointedly avoided looking at the house where Bathilda Bagshot had lived as they passed it. He didn't want to remember the horrors that had happened there. Draco noticing his avoidance of the building decided that on this occasion he would respect Harry's wishes and not pry further into why. It was clearly not something that he wanted to discuss. Whether it was to do with the first time he had been here as a baby or the second in the hunt for horcruxes it wasn't up for discussion today.

Up in the town square Draco was astounded to see a war memorial in the centre. He had had a vague idea that the house would have remained standing in memory of the Potter's and the sacrifice that they had made but he had no idea that Harry Potter and his parents had a statue of themselves here as well. If he had known this though he knew that as an arrogant young boy he would have tormented Harry for it. He was some ways glad that he hadn't known about it before today.

He stood staring at the beautifully made memorial, the happy and smiling faces of Lily and James Potter as they cradled their young son in their arms, together. Draco was struck by a sudden sadness that he would never get the chance to meet them, only their graves, the place they had been laid to rest. It saddened him because he would have liked to know them, if for no other reason than to thank them for bringing Harry into this world, someone he was learning slowly that he couldn't ever live without again.

They didn't say a word as they paused only briefly at the statue, swiftly moving silently past it and heading for the church. Harry went first through the kissing gate, pausing on the other side to wait for Draco, thinking of how he could ask for a kiss before allowing him through and the magical tradition of the gate would demand that it be done before Draco was permitted entrance. He very quickly shook that thought from his mind, Draco didn't want to kiss him and even if he did that was not how Harry wanted their first kiss to be.

"It's beautiful here," Draco said as they wandered through the cemetery, their second in as many days. This however was no Malfoy family resting place covered in white roses and cherry blossom trees with every head stone carved in white marble. Some of the names here were worn and old, it was an ancient resting place, traditional and grey. It was still every bit as beautiful and peaceful here as the place where Cassie had been laid to rest.

"Yes," Harry agreed as he led the way through the church yard, following the winding dirt path which was uneven under foot. Finally coming to a stop Draco knew that they had reached their destination. A double breasted headstone carved with Lily and James' names and their dates of birth and death.

Harry hadn't been expecting it to affect him as much as it did, a wave of emotion hit him and he was unable to control himself, tears falling from his eyes in floods. Draco stood to the side of him for support and said nothing, allowing him to grieve for what he had lost. The first time he had visited Harry hadn't had the chance to let his emotions take over, he couldn't afford to be distracted and the Slytherin could understand that he needed to do this now when he had no burdens weighing him down.

Harry might not have known his parents as people but Draco understood that the tears he shed were just as much for the life he had lost when they had died as the death of his parents. He would never know them or the life that he could have had if Voldemort hadn't decided to kill them.

The church bells began to chime noon behind them and a chorus of cheers erupted from the front of the church breaking the silence that they had enjoyed. Draco turned his attention to see what was going on and saw a couple, clearly a bride and groom, exiting the church. Harry had turned too and watched curiously as their guests threw confetti over them in celebration of their nuptials.

"If I'm ever lucky enough to find someone and get married then I want it to be here," Harry said suddenly as he watched them share a brief but happy kiss.

Draco turned to look at his companion curiously, "Any girl would be lucky to have you," He said quietly, trying to keep his attention on the departing wedding party rather than the waver in his voice at the mention of Harry falling in love with a girl. The thought of harry marrying anyone or even loving anyone that wasn't him made his feel sick to the stomach.

"Yeah," Harry muttered dubiously, "Any girl," But didn't say anymore on the subject, turning back to his parents. "Draco, do you mind if I just sit here a while, it might be boring for you but you're welcome to stay. I wouldn't mind."

"I know," He said with a fond smile, understanding what Harry needed, "I'll leave you for a while. I'm going to go and get a Daily Prophet, see if I can find somewhere for us to stay for the night. It might be nice to stay somewhere wizard friendly for the night."

Harry grinned, nodding his agreement. "Thank you," He said to the Slytherin as he had turned to leave. He genuinely meant that too, he had never been more thankful of anyone, not even Ron and Hermione. Draco just seemed to understand. He didn't argue, he didn't second guess him, they just existed together harmoniously.

"You're welcome," Draco returned. It was heart wrenching to willingly walk away from Harry again but the Gryffindor needed time alone with his parents. Draco respected him enough to give him that even if he didn't like being apart from him.

He did manage to find a Daily Prophet and went to sit in the pub for a while, allowing Harry the space and the time that he needed. Draco actually found himself glad that he had because as he had been flicking through the paper, ignoring the fact that the front page still declared Harry as a missing person, he had seen the notification of Severus Tobias Snape's funeral and in small print beneath the notification declared that it had been Hermione Granger to put it in this edition, something that the paper never usually included.

Draco understood however that it was clearly the only way she could think of to get a message to them safely. He couldn't help but be impressed with her intelligence, he'd always been jealous of it before but now that he wasn't in direct competition with her he could sit back and just admire her brilliance.

Folding up the paper he decided to ask Harry if they could go. It was to be held the day after next so they had plenty of time to do whatever Harry wanted while in Godrics Hollow before they left. He thought that them attending would have been the purpose for Granger posting the notification in the first place and was grateful that she had thought of it. Draco wouldn't have been able to cope very well if he had missed it.

Severus had been his Godfather and had protected him and treated him more like a son than his own father had over the years. He wanted to go so that he could pay his last respects to the kind, brave man that he had known. He just hoped that Harry could understand this as it would mean a high risk trip into the wizarding world.

Draco was sure that Harry would have ways of disguising himself without the use of brewing a polyjuice potion which would take a month, time they didn't have. While at the pub Draco booked them a twin room again. The bar tender had looked at him suspiciously but Draco had been nothing but polite and even paid the man half of the room rate in advance to keep him sweet.

Slowly ambling his way back to the church and the graveyard he enjoyed the sunshine on his skin and how it warmed him. He may not have liked being away from Harry but the past few days had so far been the happiest that he had experienced in a long time. Happiness had never been something that he had strived for as a Malfoy, content simply with survival. Harry had shown him that it didn't have to be that way. He had shown him that there were other emotions other than gut wrenching fear and sadness.

Living with his crazy Aunt for a torturous period had taught him many things, he had seen things and even done things that he wasn't proud of but Harry was helping wash all that away. Draco smiled as he lent against the wall next to the kissing gate, musing about kissing Harry here, wondering if he dared but deciding that he didn't. He was emotional over his trip to visit his parents and Draco didn't want to overload him.

The image of him masturbating in the shower was still fresh in Draco's mind, it was sight that he wasn't going to forget in a long while. Every time he closed his eyes he could see Harry stroking his shaft, bringing himself to orgasm.

"You okay?" Harry asked startling Draco out of his erotic day dream making his pale cheeks flush a brilliant scarlet. Harry rose an amused eyebrow at the Slytherin's reactions, smiling a little but not questioning his reaction.

"Um, yeah, fine, you ready?" He asked feeling a little flustered and Harry nodded that he was, coming through the kissing gate and together walking towards the pub so that they could get some lunch, together.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

With Godrics Hollow being a mainly wizarding village it was difficult not to attract attention, especially not when the most popular wizarding newspaper was running front page notifications daily that Harry Potter was a missing person. In the end Harry snuck up to their room under his cloak and Draco ordered room service for two at the bar, paying twice the amount owed just to keep the owner happy before following Harry up. He was just glad that they would only be here the one night.

Harry of course reached their room first and couldn't help but be amused when he found one double bed instead of two singles as he'd expected. His hopes had flared at the sight of it, thinking that Draco had done it on purpose and that maybe he had wanted to share a bed with him again just like their first night. However his hopes were quickly dashed when the Slytherin had come to join him and seemed horrified at the mix up.

Draco however had only been horrified because of the implications of what it meant for the two of them this evening and how he didn't want Harry waking up in the morning to find him with a rather embarrassing tent in his pyjama trousers, which might have only caused awkwardness between them. Ever since he had seen the Gryffindor in the shower it was all he could think about.

"It's okay," Harry said as Draco had been about to go back down to the bar and rectify the problem. "I honestly don't mind," He said honestly, happy for any excuse to be close to Draco. The thought of sharing a bed with him, being able to smell the sweet vanilla scent of his hair and feel the warmth of his pale skin as they fell asleep side by side seemed like something close to heaven to Harry.

"Are you sure, I could always sleep on the floor," Draco said looking at the wooden floor that was filthy and looked particularly uncomfortable however there wasn't much that he wouldn't suffer through for Harry.

"Don't be silly, there is plenty of room in the bed, it's not like we haven't slept in the same bed before," Harry said, mumbling the last part but Draco heard and smiled. Quickly changing the subject, Harry asked, "Was there anything interesting in the Prophet?"

Realising that he still had the paper tucked under one arm he began to unfold it, "Actually yes, of course they still haven't stopped printing that you're missing but there was something else too, " He said as he opened it up to the page of notifications. "I noticed that Hermione put this in the paper, I think she wanted us to know about it." He hoped that by adding the part about Hermione it might increase their chances of being able to go.

A knock on the door signalled that their lunch had arrived, leaving Harry to ponder the funeral announcement he went to fetch their meal. When he returned with the assortment of bread, cheese, meat, fruit and several bottles of pumpkin juice, summoning a table to put it all on he found that Harry was wiping away tears.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked with concern, he hadn't been expecting such an emotional reaction to the paper. He had assumed that the notification had been put there for his benefit rather than Harry's. It had always been the belief that Severus and Harry were enemies but apparently he had been mistaken.

"Hermione knew that I would want to go, to pay my respects to him, he was a great man," Harry said as he wiped away his tears, he had been crying a lot of late, though he had a reason for every one of the tears he shed. Each one grieved for something or someone that had been lost to him over his life and he had lost a lot.

"I thought that you hated him," Draco said, confused at what Harry was telling him. He couldn't imagine Harry not hating the man who had killed Dumbledore, someone Draco knew Harry had been very close to.

"We misunderstood each other," Harry explained sadly, "I wish I had known him better while he was alive. I was there when he died, I sat with him while until he passed, he gave me some of his memories right before he died which helped me to understand him better."

"You were with him when he died?" Draco queried and Harry nodded at him, "Will you tell me how it happened?"

"Of course, were you close to him?" Harry asked as they settled themselves on the bed, helping themselves to the food that Draco had ordered though neither of them felt particularly hungry, both in too sombre a mood to want to eat much.

"He was my Godfather, he meant more to me than my father, he did more for me than Lucius ever did too. I miss him," Draco ended sadly.

"Severus was always working for Dumbledore because ultimately he loved my mother and had done since they were children together. It's the reason that he hated my Dad so much and me too to start with but really he just wanted to protect me, I was his last remaining link to her."

"I never knew that about him, he always kept himself closed off emotionally, of course he protected me but I never knew that ultimately he was loyal to Dumbledore and not the Dark Lord," Draco admitted, realising that he might not have known the man much at all.

"The night of the great battle Voldemort summoned him to the shrieking shack where he was hiding when the Elder wand wasn't working right for him-"

"The elder wand?" Draco interrupted, confused, "Isn't that just part of a children's story?"

Harry shook his head, "I found out last year that the Deathly Hallows are all very much real unfortunately. Dumbledore was the master of the elder wand before he died, Voldemort believed that because Snape had killed Dumbledore that Snape had become the wands master and by killing him the wand would then answer to Voldemort and he'd finally be able to kill me." Harry explained though he felt as if he wasn't doing a very good job. "The problem was the elder wand never answered to Severus."

"Who did it answer to?" Draco asked, completely enthralled by the story that Harry was telling him, relishing every detail that was divulged. He had always found wand lore fascinating, especially the tale of the three brothers and the elder wand.

"It actually answered to you," Harry said which initiated a stunned gawp from Draco.

"The elder wand answered to me?" He asked in surprise, never would he have believed it if anyone other than Harry had been the one to tell him.

"It did, until I disarmed you in Malfoy Manor, yes," Harry told him. "After that the wand answered to me, not to Snape. Voldemort didn't understand that though, he thought that it was whomever had killed the previous master that took control of their wand, Snape knew all this of course but protected you to the end. If he had known then Voldemort would have come after you, he truly believed that processing the elder wand was the only way to defeat me. Severus died when Voldemort, under the delusion that killing Snape was the answer to his problem, ordered his pet snake to kill him."

"What about the other hallows … the resurrection stone?" Draco asked thinking of his sister and being able to see her again, being able to talk to his Godfather one last time but Harry was shaking his head sadly.

"The cloak of invisibility you've seen, it belonged to my father," Harry began, thinking that he should start with the least inflammatory explanation first, "Dumbledore gave it to me when I was eleven, the first Christmas I was at Hogwarts. Strangely it's the cloak that is the least sought after of the hallows but it is also the one that I could never live without. Dumbledore also left me the resurrection stone that night when I finally understood that I had to die to defeat Voldemort. It allowed me to see my parents, to help me understand and to guide me but I knew how dangerous it was. The living should never have been given the power to summon the dead so before I went to him I dropped the stone somewhere in the forbidden forest, I don't even remember the exact location."

Harry watched as a sadness dawned over Draco's handsome features and he understood how the loss of that stone took away the possibilities of seeing those he had lost one final time but he wouldn't feel guilty for dropping the stone. It was better left where it was. He fully believed that the living shouldn't have power over the dead, the dead were better left where they were at peace.

"I'm sorry, it was selfish of me to ask about it," Draco said sheepishly, not wanting Harry to think badly of him for desiring the stone.

"I know why you did and it crossed my mind too once but not even wizards can undo death, you know that. Severus was one of the bravest men I knew, he led a double life for so long but never really lived at all after my mother died," Harry said, he truly admired the man that Severus had been and had knew the wizarding world was a lot worse off without Snape being a part of it. However no resurrection stone was ever going to be able to fix that.

"So is it okay that we go to his funeral, I would like to say goodbye to him?" Draco asked and Harry could hear how much it meant to him that they be able to go and the plain truth was it meant a lot to him as well.

"I want to go, Hermione knew I would which is why she let us know about it but with all this crap about me being a missing person … " Harry said pondering the situation for a moment as he took a sip of his pumpkin juice, "I'm going to have to go under my cloak and you'll have to have a few glamour charms on you as well, just to be sure. I don't want to take any risks, it's too soon for me to go back to the wizarding world officially."

"I don't want to go back either but I need to say goodbye to him," Draco said understanding the risk they were taking. "It wouldn't feel right to miss it." Harry nodded his understanding, feeling the same way.

With them both acknowledging that neither were ready to go back to the wizarding world as themselves but that attending the memorial of Severus Snape was something that they had to, they continued with their meal in a pensive silence. Draco watched Harry eat, loving his passion for each flavour every time he put something new into his mouth.

"What are you staring at?" Harry asked bemused as he felt Draco's gaze on him.

"I love watching you eat, you seem to really love food," Draco said enthralled as Harry finished his mouthful, swallowing before taking a sip of his pumpkin juice.

"It's because I never really had much of it growing up, I don't take it for granted," Harry explained after taking a deep breath, preparing himself for Draco's reaction.

"What do you mean you didn't have much of it growing up?" Draco asked with confusion, not sure what Harry could mean.

"Severus' funeral isn't until the day after next right?" Draco nodded, "I want to take you somewhere tomorrow, I don't really know how to explain it to you until I can show you."

"Alright," Draco said confused, "Are you sure you don't want to stay in Godrics Hollow any longer?" He asked, he wanted to be sure that Harry had everything he needed from their visit here, not prepared to leave until he had.

"I think I've said everything I needed to say to my parents. It was nice to spend the morning with them, thank you for giving that to me. I think that going back to my Aunt and Uncle's house is something that I have to do, I just don't think I can do it alone. It isn't going to be an easy trip for me."

"As long as you want me Harry I'll be by your side, whatever you want to do. If this is something you have to do then this is what we'll do," Draco said reassuringly.

"Thank you Dray," Harry said with a smile, looking at the Slytherin affectionately, he truly didn't know what he would do if he didn't have Draco with him.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

The rest of the afternoon was spent together, laying on the one double bed and talking. The conversation stayed on those that they had lost. Severus Snape, Sirius Black, Albus Dumbledore, Fred Weasley, Lily and James Potter, Remus and Nymphadora Lupin, Cassie Malfoy, even Hedwig and Dobby were discussed at length for the sacrifice that they had made for the war. By the time evening descended they both felt emotionally overwhelmed from the day they had had.

It would be another emotional one tomorrow too seeing as Harry intended for them to visit the Dursley's old house in Privet Drive so that he could show Draco exactly what his childhood had been like. It wouldn't be an easy experience for him and he doubted that Draco would relish the details either. Before it was even nine o'clock in the evening they were snuggled up under the blankets in their bed ready for sleep.

At first the two of them stuck to their own edges of the bed, uncertainty over whether it would be okay to move closer together. When they realised that the blankets wouldn't adequately cover them both when they were so far apart they shuffled hesitantly closer to one another. They could have easily enlarged the blanket of course but for some reason this didn't seem to occur to either of them as they were both more than happy to get nearer.

Finally Harry turned on to his side, facing towards Draco, who mirrored him, their eyes meeting and the Gryffindor's hand tentatively reaching out to take hold of Draco's who took hold of it, grateful for the contact. That was how they fell asleep, holding hands, facing one another as if the two of them together were all that mattered in the world.

Draco woke first the next morning, jarring awake before the sun had fully risen. Running his hands through his hair in frustration over what had woken him when silence was the only thing he could hear. He glanced over to Harry who still slept peacefully. Taking his opportunity when it was so easily presented to him he began to study his bed mate, marvelling at how peaceful and relaxed he looked in sleep. Hesitantly he reached his hand forward to brush a stray strand of unruly black hair out from Harry's closed eyes.

The Gryffindor sighed in his sleep, a wholesome sound of contentment that made Draco wonder what he was dreaming about, however in the next moment his question was answered and it almost made his heart stop beating. Whispered in sleep almost as a moan his name escaped from Harry's lips.

"Draco," He murmured again, "Don't leave me," Harry's words made his heart ache to hold him, to tell him it was going to be alright and that he would never leave. However he was simply too afraid that he might wake him if he dared to say anything so instead he leant forward and placed a gentle kiss upon his forehead, placing his arm across Harry's waist and leaning his head on his chest, listening to the rhythmic beating of his heart, the steady sound beneath his ear and the memory of those whispered words comforting him back into sleep.

Harry thought that he might have been in heaven when he woke from his slumber, it had been the best night's sleep he had had in a long while and better still he had dreamt of a certain blonde Slytherin. Draco's sweet vanilla scent wafted around him as he roused and he felt beautifully warm, the sun shining through the window and Draco's prone form wrapped around him possessively. If he had had any choice in the matter then he would have happily bottled this moment and the feeling that went with it so that he would always be able to remember it and feel how he felt in this moment. This was happiness. Harry couldn't imagine that any feeling could top this one of euphoria from waking up in such a way with the one person in the world that held his heart.

Ever so slightly so not to disturb his companion Harry curled himself into Draco. It had become a habit for the two of them to sleep shirtless, wearing nothing but light cotton pyjama trousers. Both had become so accustomed to seeing the exposed torso of the other that it felt like the most natural thing in the world to them now. This meant that the skin to skin contact of their upper bodies was like an electric storm of tension as they rubbed together.

Closing his eyes Harry drifted off into a daydream, imagining that they were together and that this sort of cuddling was perfectly normal for them. He imagined what it would feel like to be woken up by soft kisses to his neck, to feel Draco's soft caressing touches upon his skin every morning and to hear him say those words …

Draco stirred restlessly behind him and Harry tensed, worried about his reaction if he awoke to find their bodies melded together in such away. Keeping his eyes firmly shut he gave the façade of sleep as Draco began to wake. The Gryffindor heard him sigh happily as Draco withdrew his arms to stretch and the warmth was gone.

"Morning," Harry said with a yawn to let Draco know that he was awake.

"Morning," Draco returned happily. "Sleep well?"

"Actually I did, you?"

"Better than I have in a long while," Draco replied making Harry smile as the blonde rolled over to face his companion. Oh how Harry loved that smile. "Are you ready for today?" Draco asked, though he had no real idea of exactly how difficult it was going to be for the raven haired teen.

"Not in the least," Harry admitted, thinking that the next two days were going to be long and painful, almost too much to bare. He would be rehashing over the events of his childhood and his life at the Dursley's today and then tomorrow he would be in attendance at a funeral of a man who he greatly admired and missed.

It was a path that he had chosen to take however and he would tread it and find out exactly where it led. Even though it had been painful it had also been some of the greatest and happiest moments of his life. Draco had made him stronger and better than he had ever thought he could be. If following this path in his life would have him in Draco's arms every night and waking up to his beautiful smiling face then Harry would not have any complaints for the rest of his life.

"I guess we should shower …" Draco said and then realising how it sounded flushed a brilliant crimson that showed up brightly against his pale skin. "I meant separately, not together," Draco mumbled suddenly unable to make eye contact with him. Harry chuckled, loving how embarrassed the blonde was.

"You go first," Harry said with a laugh and taking his cue Draco slid out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Unbeknownst to him, Harry watched him go, or more precisely he watched his arse go. It was a view that he wasn't going to get tired of anytime soon.

The two of them didn't stay long enough at the pub to eat breakfast, deciding that it would be better to find somewhere along the way. Hidden under his cloak as they left the pub he watched the looks given to Draco by the bar tender as he settled the last of the bill. He could clearly see that there was a lot of distrust surrounding the Malfoy family. Harry vowed that when they were ready to go back to the wizarding world that he would make sure that everyone knew just how much they had helped him during and after the war. He wanted to ensure that both Draco and Narcissa could live in peace without fear of judgement or repercussions from their past.

Once outside Harry shed the cloak and stuffed it back into his backpack. It was early enough that not many people were around and Harry felt safe in the knowledge that no one would make a fuss if they saw him. He had to prepare himself for what was to come today. He had never thought that he would ever return to the Dursley's home or face the horrors that he had experienced there. He had wanted to forget it all but for some reason there was a desire to show Draco where he had grown up and what it had been like for him.

"Harry … are you sure that you're ready for this?" Draco asked, picking up on the unease that Harry was feeling as they walked through the town square, past the statue of Lily, James and baby Harry. They were planning on apparating to Privet Drive from outside of the ruined house, the same spot they had appeared in the previous day.

"It's something I need you to see Dray," Harry admitted to him, "There are things that you need to understand about what happened after this place," He said motioning around to Godrics Hollow as they passed through it on their way out.

"You mean where you grew up?" Draco asked curiously.

"Yes, the place where Hagrid took me after my parents were murdered. The place that Dumbledore thought would be the best place for me to live."

"I'm not sure I understand …" Draco said feeling hopelessly stupid that he couldn't grasp what Harry was trying to tell him.

"I don't expect you to, not yet," Harry said to him as they reached the house where James and Lily had lost their lives. He offered out his hand to the blonde who took it readily, preparing himself for the apparition. "But you will," He said and with a pop Harry took them both to Privet Drive.

Draco looked around, never had he seen a more muggle area, perfect hedges, neat lawns and regularly tended flowerbeds. It was almost too perfect. They were stood outside of a large, four bedroom house which had a large brass number four on it.

"This is where you lived?" Draco asked and Harry nodded his head. The Slytherin couldn't see anything wrong with this place, it seemed like such a normal place to live for a muggle.

"I should show you inside," Harry said, taking a deep, steading breath as he prepared himself to take a foot towards the front door, an action he found difficult, his legs suddenly made of lead and unable to move at all.

"We can turn back if you want," Draco offered as he watched Harry struggle. He just couldn't comprehend how this place was more difficult to revisit than the site where his parents had lost their lives, their graves or even Grimmauld Place. Harry had conquered them all with relative ease, he at least hadn't been frozen in place at the prospect of entering a building.

"No," Harry said with determination, "It's just a place," He said but this was more for his own benefit than for Draco's.

"I won't think any less of you Harry …" Draco said but Harry gave him a stern look that told him not to finish that sentence if he knew what was good for him.

"My Aunt and Uncle lived here … they had a son that was about my age. He was their pride and joy, he was their everything. They treasured everything about him, spoiling him rotten. When my Aunt found me on the doorstep I instantly became an unwanted burden, another mouth to fed, hated just because I existed."

Draco's breath caught in his throat at the words escaping softly from Harry's lips, his tone so quite that he had to stand very still to be able to hear him. He struggled to come to terms with the fact that Harry had ever been hated just for existing, not when he had been branded a hero from the moment he had destroyed Voldemort at the age of one.

With a final deep breath harry closed his eyes and began to walk towards the front door of the still empty property, trying not to think too much. If he started to think then he wouldn't have been able to go through with it.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Harry unlocked the door with a wave of his wand and let the two of them inside. From the way harry had been reacting he had expected something akin to the dungeon at Malfoy Manor but there was nothing garish or tormenting about the house, except maybe the floral wallpaper. Draco was sure if you stared at it too long you'd be given a migraine. However when he saw that Harry was practically shaking he became very concerned.

"Harry you have to talk to me … you're scaring me a little," Draco said although it was a wrench for him to admit this. He hated seeing Harry being filled with such fear. The Gryffindor couldn't understand it either but then he had not been back since he had lost the part of him that had been Tom Riddle. Perhaps harry did have something to be thankful for Voldemort for. It seemed that the Dark Lord was the only reason he had had strength enough to survive the torrent of abuse that the Dursley's had put him though.

Timidly Harry moved forward and opened up the cupboard under the stairs where a mattress still lay upon the floor. "This was where I lived for the first eleven years of my life," He said quietly. Draco looked past Harry and into the tiny space, remembering how small and delicate the boy had looked when they had first met in Diagon alley all those years ago and now he knew why.

"What happened here Harry," Draco asked, his heart breaking for the small boy who before he knew what was happening to him had been ripped from a happy family home and placed somewhere he was neither wanted nor loved and expected to just survive.

"My Aunt and Uncle had been forced by Dumbledore to let me stay here. He hadn't specified how I was to be treated while I lived here however. As soon as I was able I was made to cook, to clean, to garden or do any job my Aunt could think of. I was never bought anything new, I wore Dudley's hand me downs that were too big for me. I had no friends, everyone too scared of my cousin to go near me. He was a bully and I was his favourite punching bag but even he didn't hit as hard as my Uncle." Harry had to pause and collect himself, the memories more painful than he had imagined. "They never told me that I was a wizard, I had no clue who I was. They said that my parents had died in a car accident and no one else had wanted me. I believed them because until I turned eleven no one came, no one cared. I was alone."

"You aren't alone anymore Harry," Draco said, "You're never going to be alone again if I can help it." As he spoke he took Harry into his arms and held him, the embrace had taken Harry by surprise but nevertheless he found himself returning the hug. Being within Draco's arms felt like the most comforting place that he could have hoped to be.

"You asked me why I appreciated the taste of food as much as I do," Harry said as he was released from the Slytherin's grip. "It's because unless I did as I was told and did it well to earn my food then I didn't get any. Even when they did feed me it was stale bread and cheese. They gave me only enough so that I would survive."

"Oh Harry …" Draco said, his voice pained.

"I don't want your pity," Harry said trying to keep his voice steady and stern. "I wanted you to see this place, to know what it was like here … I wanted you to understand why when I was eleven years old I could never have been your friend. The day I met you, you reminded me of my cousin, you made me feel stupid, like I was worthless just like the Dursley's always had."

"I'm so sorry Harry … I never meant to …"

"I know that Dray … I don't want you to feel guilty about it, I honestly don't. I have put all of that behind me and I've forgiven you. We were children, young and foolish boys."

"I'm still sorry, I had no idea of what you had been through," Draco said, his entire body racked with guilt over his past actions. "If you allow me to I'm going to spend the rest of my life making it up to you Harry."

"You don't have to, we've both done things to each other that don't bear thinking about. You've already made up for everything in the last few days, coming with, keeping me strong," Harry said looking into the storm of silver that seemed so sad as they swept over his face. Harry held his gaze, his heart racing beneath his chest as Draco's hand came up and he wiped away a stray tear with a brush of his thumb.

"I want to make sure that you don't have to cry any more Harry," Draco said, speaking quietly, his hand remaining at Harry's cheek, stroking him tenderly. Harry leaned into the touch, appreciating the warmth of his skin.

He had known that today would be difficult but he had no idea just how challenging it would be to come back to this place. However here he stood, confronting his demons in the one place that he had always sought to escape from and with the one person he had never expected to worm his way into his heart.

"Draco…" Harry murmured, unable to form a coherent sentence from the jumble of thoughts rushing through his mind. They were so close, his touch ghosting gently against his cheek. All Harry could think about was leaning forward the last inch or so and kiss the thin rose pink lips before him.

Nervously Harry's tongue darted out, wetting his dry, chapped lips, an action that made Draco's heart practically skip a beat. If Harry hadn't have done that then the two of them might never had found the courage because it was this that made up Draco's mind that he couldn't stand it any longer. Being so close to him and being unable to touch him and to be with him it had been unbearable for days now.

If it had gone on much longer then Draco was sure that he would have ended up walking away, no matter how painful it would have been to do it. The pain in his chest at being so close to Harry and still not being able to have him completely had been torturous. He was sure that not even Voldemort himself could have come up with anything more painfully torturous than the feeling of not being able to have the one person that you desired the most.

Draco closed the distance between them, slowly and nervously. Not wanting to move too fast in case this wasn't what Harry wanted. He pressed his lips against Harry's with deliberate caution, gaging his reaction. He felt his heart soar in delight when he felt Harry's lips move against his, returning the kiss.

Encouraged Draco wrapped his arms around Harry's waist and pulled him closer, their hips bumping together as the Gryffindor found himself encircling his arms around Draco's neck. Their kiss depended, tongues exploring shyly, politely asking to be allowed entrance to the other teen's mouth, permission that was readily granted.

Tongues met uncertainly, caressing, massaging and intertwining together. Harry felt his fingers running through soft blonde hair as he attempted to deepen the kiss, making it more desperate and passionate.

They only separated when they needed air to breath and to live, but even as their lips parted, they remained surged into one, foreheads pressed together, noses touching and both of them breathing heavily, wrapped up in the intensity of their first kiss.

"Wow," Draco said, almost unable to form words. "I've been wanting to do that for so long," He admitted quietly.

"Me too," Harry said, his words a ghost of a whisper as he captured Draco's lips once more, still tentative and uncertain. He never wanted to let the Slytherin go, he was just too afraid that any minute he was going to wake up and this would have been a dream.

Only the night before Harry had been dreaming about Draco, imagining how this would feel and now here they were, wrapped up in each other's arms and sharing the most beautiful and tender of kisses. It was almost too good to be true.

Here they stood in the Dursley's hallway, embracing Draco Malfoy of all people in a fervent kiss that had them both vying for more. Neither of them felt as if it would ever be enough or that they would ever be able to stop. The feelings that they had for one another were overwhelming, encompassing them and all that they had been through together, the good and the bad.

There was still a long way to go but they would of course do it together. Not as friends now but as something much, much more. They had so much to contend with but they weren't about to let that stop them. Harry was finally beginning to understand who he was without that small part of Tom Riddle languishing inside of him, infecting his soul. It was a person that could love and be loved by the young man who stood before him, just as broken and damaged but also the other half of him. Of this Harry was sure.

"Can we leave?" Harry asked, reluctant to release Draco, to let him go in any way but he didn't want to be here anymore. He didn't want the horrors of this place to infect the kind-hearted touch that went with Draco's sweet kisses. He wanted to be somewhere that meant he could enjoy the heat they shared, relish in the caressing touch they could give to one another.

"Anything you want," Draco replied, "Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere that isn't here, anywhere that we can be together … like this." Harry said, speaking in whispers, not wanting for their moment to shatter just yet. He wasn't ready to let it go. Their first kiss. Days of longing and angst as they had travelled together, visiting places of great significance and meaning to one another and this was where it had led them.

Harry had never expected that when he had left the castle the night after the final battle that he would ever have been stood here. He never thought that he would have the courage to come back to this place but have done it and to be here, in the midst of a heated embrace that promised of so much more to come boggled his mind.

"Your wish is my command," Draco said, tightening his grip around Harry's waist, something which the Gryffindor hadn't thought was a possibility. "I know where we can go."

In the midst of war the two teenagers had lost themselves, allowing others to dictate their actions, whether that be Dumbledore, Lucius or Voldemort, they had both been guilty of allow others run their lives as if their destinies had been set in stone. Harry had been confused as to why he had survived, why death hadn't wanted to take him and now he had an answer. This was his reason for going on, Draco was the thing that he had to keep fighting for. This was exactly where he was supposed to be.

Tomorrow the two of them would go to Snape's funeral, disguised and concealed but they would do it together and they would keep each other strong. When they had each other they would be able to face anything, survive anything, conquer the world if they so desired. Whatever came next they would bring each other through.

Trusting each other completely, Harry shut his eyes and nuzzled himself into the crook of Draco's neck, allowing the Slytherin to take charge and apperate them away with a soft pop.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

The two young men appeared in a rather elaborate bedroom which seemed a lot like it might have belonged at Hogwarts but Harry knew that that was impossible. The floor beneath their feet was made of grey flag stones, the walls an off white and the major feature of the room a mahogany four poster bed with cream drapes and bedding. The windows were all open and they could hear the distinct sound of waves crashing on to rock coming from somewhere beneath them. A fire raged in the hearth, heating the room and adding a crackling sound to the ambience of the beautiful bedroom.

"Where are we?" Harry asked, looking around, taking in his surroundings with a stunned awe. He had never been in a place that seemed to him to be perfectly beautiful and quiet, as if he wouldn't be disturbed here. That he could live in peace.

"It's a property my parents own in Wales, we used to come here when I was a child, I didn't want our first time to be in some horrible bed and breakfast or a room in a pub. It wouldn't have felt right." Draco said and Harry nodded nervously, biting his lip. The prospect of sleeping with Draco in the physical sense scared him. It was something he wasn't sure that he was ready for.

His hand slipped from the Slytherin's grip and he walked to the window, peering out over the ocean, his view completely uninterrupted. It had been a trying day and tomorrows only prospect was to worsen. Harry may not have felt as if he were ready but it felt as if he needed this.

"It's beautiful here," Harry said as Draco came up behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist. The Gryffindor tensed a little, his heart beating faster than normal but he didn't shrug off Draco's embrace, he relished in feeling his body, his warmth and his affection.

"Do you regret kissing me?" Draco asked, sensing Harry's unease and praying to Merlin that he didn't have any regrets but wanting to know sooner rather than later if he did. If he was going to get his heart broken by the saviour of the wizarding world then it had better be sooner rather than later in his mind. He didn't want to be completely in love with him if Harry was just going to walk away but Draco was sure that it was already too late for that. He already couldn't face the thought of living another day without Harry.

"No" Harry said at once, "It's just …"

"Just what?" Draco asked softly with only concern. He didn't want Harry to be afraid of him, he wanted him to be able to trust him, to be able to love him.

"I've never …" Harry began but he didn't need to finish, Draco knew what he was trying to say. The Slytherin could have kicked himself for not realising. He had never thought that Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived-twice, would ever have been sexually inexperienced, not with the amount of fangirls and boys he had fawning over him all the time. Draco had honestly never believed that Harry was a virgin.

"I'm not going to force you if you aren't ready Harry," Draco said quietly, nuzzling into the crook of his neck and inhaling his scent. He could feel the fear that practically radiating from the Gryffindor, he seemed to be almost physically shaking. "I don't want you to be scared of this … of us." He said as he placed kisses across Harry's shoulder, wanting nothing more than to worship him as he deserved to be.

"Have you done this before?" Harry asked unsure if he actually wanted to know the answer or not. Thinking of Draco with anyone other than him made a sickening feeling of jealousy creep over him. It wasn't something that he ever wanted to picture. He wanted Draco to be his and no one else's. Aside from a few horribly awkward kisses with girls Harry had no experience with these matters and that worried him if Draco was going to reel off a list of people he'd fucked as long as his arm. Harry already knew that he would never survive Draco Malfoy, his experience in the bedroom would only add another nail to the coffin.

"Yes but only with one person," Draco said wanting to be as honest as possible but also fearing that if he said too much he would scare the raven haired teen away. He already seemed to as timid as a mouse but then it had been an emotionally exhausting day.

"Who?" Harry asked without really thinking but at this Draco gave a rather pointed sigh as if he knew that Harry was torturing himself and he didn't approve.

"I'll tell you, of course I will but are you sure that you want to know? Look around you Harry, we are in a beautiful castle, just the two of us, there is no one else around for miles. We have a small army of house elves at our dispersal to fetch us whatever we want to eat or drink, do you really want to talk about my one and only ex, which I'm assuming will only upset you?" Draco asked, "He isn't here, it's just you and me and that it all that matters."

"Sorry," Harry mumbled and Draco spun him around so that they could face one another, Draco didn't want Harry to be sorry, he wanted him to be his. There was no room for embarrassed apologies here, he just wanted Harry to be comfortable enough that they could just be with one another without second guessing or concern.

"Don't be sorry," Draco said, "If you want me to tell you then I will, I'll tell you anything that you want to know. I think we have shared enough that we have no secrets from one another. I just don't want you to over think this."

"It's just I've never … not even with a girl, let alone a guy." Harry said his voice filled with uncertainty and nerves. His stomach felt as if it were back flipping. Defeating a dark wizard, finding and destroying all seven parts of his soul that was no problem but the prospect of having sex with a man whom he cared a great deal for and he was practically running scared. Harry had no idea what was wrong with him.

"As I said, if you aren't ready then I will be more than happy to just lay next to you. No words can descript how much I've wanted to just hold you for the longest time, the last few nights, being so close to you, it was so difficult to handle when we weren't even in the same bed..." Draco said, remembering how desperately he had craved Harry, going so far to sneak glances of him through the door while he pleasured himself in the shower. It was an image that Draco saw every time he closed his eyes but now he wanted to see that blissed out face as Harry came inside of him, he wanted to be the cause of it.

"For me too," Harry admitted. Then nervously he added, "Will you lie with me now?" He asked his heart racing frantically in his chest. He looked over at the bed as if it might swallow him whole but he needed to feel Draco, the heat of skin, to smell his soft vanilla scent and feel his light teasing touches and his lips as they kissed him.

"Of course," Draco replied, taking Harry by the hand and leading him to the four poster bed. They kicked off their shoes and socks first before their lips met, their kisses soft and tentative to begin with before tongues clashed, deepening the embrace, making it more fervent which how much the desired one another. "Try and relax," The blonde said as their kiss broke. Harry nodded apprehensively. "Lie back," Draco instructed.

Harry sat down on the edge of the bed and scooted backwards, his arms shaking so violently that he could barely support his own weight. Draco, joining him on the bed settled himself between Harry's legs, supporting himself above the nervous young man. Every inch of the Slytherin's body seemed to tingle at the prospect of what was to come.

"Draco …" Harry gasped desperately as the blondes hands glided up beneath his t-shirt, fingertips ghosting over scars old and new, bumping over healing wounds.

"I'm not … trust me … please," Draco said as he rested his forehead against Harry's, their breath mixing together and their noses bumping slightly.

"I do trust you," Harry murmured as he reached up to brush a stray blonde hair from Draco's eyes, looking up at him with innocence and fear despite his words. He had never trusted anyone so much or so readily as Draco.

Lying down completely Harry allowed himself to be taken over. Even lying the wrong way across the bed it was by far big enough to accommodate them. Draco keeping himself supported above Harry, his arms trembling with the effort. Their erections grinding together as hands tentatively explored upper bodies, mapping out so far unexplored territory.

Pulling his t-shirt over his head Draco discarded it to the floor and allowed Harry's eyes to sweep over his muscular chest, taking in the defined abs of solid muscle and the porcelain skin that seemed unblemished by the sun, years spent living in a dungeon had kept him pale but it couldn't have turned Harry on more. It spurred him on, he propped himself up, taking hold of Draco's torso in his hands and taking a pink nipple into his mouth and sucking, grazing the sensitive tip with his teeth.

Draco threw his head back, enjoying the sensation as his hands found their way into Harry's soft black hair, the Gryffindor's lips kissing and suckling every inch of his torso that he could reach from his position pinned beneath the Slytherin, leaving small purpling marks in his wake, a clear claim of territory. Close to the edge Draco pushed Harry back down on to the bed, ravishing his mouth with feverish kisses as Harry rolled them over, gaining his confidence.

Their hips bumped together, grinding their straining erections together. Draco, desperate to rid Harry of his clothes dragged his t-shirt off and threw it away, his hands running across the scarred olive skin greedily.

Even with jeans still on and without touching anything below the belt it wasn't long before the two of them were close to their completion, kisses became more desperate and the grinding faster and harder. The intensity between them reaching its pinnacle as they came together.

"Fuck, Harry …" Draco cried out, gasping for air as he felt the dampness spreading in his trousers. The Gryffindor grinned at him, sweating and breathless, feeling giddy with the release and not ready for it to be over. Harry continued kissing him, his lips moving down his jaw, working steadily lower. He reached the waistband of his jeans where wisps of light blonde hair trailed teasingly from his belly button, disappearing into the material.

Harry pulled at the button and the denim sprang open, Draco's breath caught in his throat when he realised what Harry was doing, "You don't …"

"I want to …" Harry said as he tugged the jeans down over his hips taking the boxer shorts with him, exposing the still hard shaft that had pearly white cum covering the tip, which Harry took eagerly into his mouth. Though having never done anything like this before he had no idea if he was doing it right or not. However judging by the moans that escaped from Draco's throat he wasn't doing too terrible a job.

He took Draco fully into his mouth, grasping at his hips as he relished the taste of him. His tongue swirling around the sensitive tip, lapping up the pre-cum that leaked as Draco neared his second orgasm.

"I'm … going … Harry …" Draco gasped, trying to find the words, to force himself to warn the raven haired teen but he couldn't find the words, too lost in the sensation of being inside Harry's warm, wet mouth. His orgasm crashed over him and he was suddenly spilling his seed into Harry's eager, willing mouth. He lapped it up, swallowing every last drop as he came level with Draco, who wrapped himself around Harry, resting his head upon his chest. Now that he had him he wasn't ever letting go.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

It took a while for Harry to realise where he was when he awoke the next morning and it took him a while to recall what had happened the day before. Slowly his eyes and sleep addled mind adjusted and he realised that he was in a beautiful castle in Wales and the warmth he felt was Draco Malfoy cuddling up to him in bed. It hadn't been a dream, the passionate kiss at Privet Drive and what they had shared had been real. The blanket was now strewn across their half-naked bodies, having been kicking off in sleep, the fire still crackling merrily in the hearth, heating the room.

If the prospect of the horrible day ahead of them hadn't shattered the illusion of calm contentment then Harry might have quite happily lay in this exact position for the remained of the day, languishing in the perfection of the moment. However they had something important to do, something that meant a great deal to both of them. No matter how peaceful simply being together in such a beautiful secluded location was, they couldn't miss the importance of today.

Draco stirred next to him, Harry watched him fondly as a smile appeared on the blonde's handsome face as he stretched out, his movements graceful and cat like. Once done he curled up around Harry, snuggling into bed mate, placing soft kisses upon his neck, "Morning," Draco murmured sleepily.

"Morning," Harry returned somewhat distractedly, his mind was already in overdrive, thinking of the day ahead of them. Severus Snape's funeral. No amount of butterfly kisses upon his skin could distract him from that thought.

"You okay love?" Draco said, propping himself up on his elbow as he sensed the uneven mood coming from his …. Whatever Harry was to him, Draco couldn't be sure now. They were certainly more than friends and companions but he couldn't be sure if they were boyfriends, lovers or partners? It was a conversation that they needed to have but now was not the time.

"Just thinking," Harry responded, his hand reaching up to stroke Draco's soft, floppy blonde hair that had fallen forward into his eyes.

"About what?" Draco asked, closing his eyes and relishing the touch that Harry's hand gave him. He wanted nothing more in that instant than to lean forward and to claim his lips in a tender kiss and to ravish the half-naked Gryffindor into a state of oblivion where he could forget all of his concerns and worries.

"Today," Harry responded quietly, looking up at Draco and meeting his swirling molten eyes. Harry only wished he had noticed how expressive they were when they had been school boys together. Maybe then he would have seen the scared little child behind the malice that had just been a shield to protect himself from heartache.

"What about today?" Draco asked as he lazily began to trace the faint scars that littered Harry's torso with the pads of his fingers, ghosting gently over erect nipples making Harry's breath catch in his throat at the intimate touch.

"I hate funerals … saying goodbye … it always seems so permanent," Harry admitted as Draco continued to tease him with gentle tickling touches across his chest.

"It'll be alright Harry, when it's over we can come back here, just spend a few days and not do anything if you like." Draco suggested, however he had a pretty good idea that they wouldn't exactly be doing nothing if they shut themselves in the bedroom for a few days. Last night Draco had seen Harry come into his own and take charge of their heated make out session, taking it further than he thought they'd go on their first night. Harry had taken control of the intimacy they were sharing and given him an intensely earth shattering orgasm. Draco couldn't wait to repeat that again and return the favour.

"I like that idea, it's been an overwhelming few days. I think that taking some time to regroup would be nice as long as we're doing it together," Harry said leaning up and placing his lips upon Draco's. Holding the embrace and savouring the touch. The kiss deepened as tongues tentatively asked for entrance which was more than willingly given, Draco pushing Harry back on the bed so that they were lying with the Slytherin halfway on top of Harry.

Their legs becoming intertwined and hands running over one another's bare skin, completely addicted to each other. Their bodies jumping to attention at the contact between them and the feverish kisses they shared where tongues collided, stroking and devouring.

"We should get ready …" Draco said as he broke the kiss, tearing himself away from Harry being one of the hardest things to do. They were still so close, breathing heavily from the embrace, their bodies raging with desire, hands still lingering in places that wouldn't have been considered decent in a public setting.

"Yes," Harry agreed, but neither of them moved, they clung to one another with avid desperation. Letting go didn't appear to be an option for either of them. Harry leaned up from his position under the blodne, bumping his nose against Draco's gently, seeking another kiss.

"Harry …" Draco said, his voice the ghost of a whisper. "If we keep going … I'm not sure I'll be able to stop …"

"Do we have time …" Harry asked as he placed soft kisses upon Draco's jaw, savouring his sweet vanilla scent that lingered on his skin.

"No love," Draco gasped as Harry began to nibble at the nape of his neck. "I want our first time, your first time to be special, something you'll always remember. I want you to be sure that you're ready."

"I'm sure that I want you," Harry replied as he lifted his head up to look at his partner, wanting him to know how true his words were.

"Tonight then," Draco replied with a soft smile.

"Tonight," Harry agreed.

HPDM

Together they apperated to a small wizarding graveyard on the outskirts of London, it was close to where Severus had had a residence, Draco recognised the area at once having visited as a child with his parents. It felt a little disconcerting being here for this reason and to have Harry under his invisibility cloak and yet still to be holding his hand even stranger still. He had lengthened his hair magically so that it reached shoulder length and partially covered his face. It was a poor attempt at concealing his identity but somehow it had felt wrong to be going to Severus' funeral as anything other than himself.

Both wizards were dressed in heavy black robes as a sign of respect for the deceased man they had come to pay their respects to, just like everyone else in attendance. There weren't many people. A few of the surviving Hogwarts professors but very few others had bothered to come and say goodbye. Harry felt saddened that so few people were here. Severus Snape had been a great man and ultimately he had died for love. Harry vowed that when he went back to the wizarding world he would make it his mission to clear his name and make sure everyone knew the kind and brave man that Severus had hidden behind an icy and seemingly uncaring exterior.

Both Harry and Draco were nervous as they joined the mourners who were there to pay tribute to the brave and complicated man that they had known. Pointedly ignoring everyone else Draco allowed Harry to lead him subtly over to where Hermione stood alone, away from the rest of the crowd. Of course she recognised the Slytherin instantly and didn't need the whispered 'thank you for this' from Harry in her ear to know that he too had come.

"Don't thank me yet," Hermione said with a grimace. "I have other reasons for letting you know about Severus' funeral," She said quietly so no one else could overhear them.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked with concern, feeling Harry's grip tighten around his hand protectively.

"Ministry officials will be arriving any minute to arrest you Draco, they caught your mother yesterday as she tried to flee to France, something they are taking as a sign of guilt. They're charging you both with war crimes against the wizarding community and also with the suspected involvement of the kidnapping and disappearance of Harry." She said quickly realising that they had very little time before the Auror's arrived.

"We have to go!" Harry said in a rush, not wanting to see Draco arrested for something that he didn't do. He tried to pull him away but Draco resisted, shaking his head.

"I can't go Harry, they have my mother," He said sadly, "And I can't run for the rest of my life and I wouldn't ask you to suffer that with me. I have to let them take me." He said with resigned sadness.

"They'll arrest you, take you to Azkaban," Harry said in a panic, unable to think about Draco ending up there after everything he had been through and everything that they had shared. Harry wasn't ready to lose him, he didn't think he would ever be able to let him go.

"I know," Draco said wanting to kiss Harry so desperately but knowing that he couldn't, not without giving away where he was and that he was here. He would never betray him in that way.

"I'll come for you," Harry said as he saw two large and burly Auror's appear not two metres away, "I'll come for both of you," He promised, taking Draco in his arms and holding him. "I'm not letting you go."

"I know," Draco whispered to him gently, "I love you," He said but Harry had no time to respond to him. The Auror's, fearful that Draco would try and flee from them had charged. It had been close as to whether they would collide with Harry as they'd rushed forward to grab hold of him.

Hermione watched with tears in her eyes as Draco was seized by the Auror's and apperated away in the blink of an eye. She could feel Harry's presence by her side and hear him crying beneath his cloak. "Why didn't you just reveal yourself, why couldn't you stop them?" She asked silently, not understanding.

"Because they're obviously determined to charge them with something, to arrest him at a funeral is low even for Ministry standards. If I had revealed myself here then they could have said I was under the Imperious curse or made up some of reason or excuse. I need to walk into the Ministry under my own steam and go to that trial tomorrow. What's more you and Ron are going to be coming with me." Harry said with determination, wiping the tears away. He was going to get his Draco back no matter what.

"How is that going to help?" She asked knowing that Ron might not be agreeable to the plan. He was still rather distrusting of Draco's motives.

"I need them to see that my friends are still standing by me. I won't have them question the validity of my word when I speak in the defence of the Malfoy's," Harry explained.

"We'll be there for you Harry, whatever you need," She said and it wasn't for the first time that she realised how much Harry cared for Draco. Listening to their whispered words before he had been taken away made the decision to help an easy one. She just hoped that it would be enough and that Ron would agree to help as well. He hadn't wanted to come today, despite knowing that Snape had been a good man.

"Thank you," Harry said quietly, turning back to listen as Severus Tobias Snape was remembered, saddened by the fact that Draco couldn't be here as well. He felt as if he were breaking without Draco by his side, just knowing that he was being taken to Azkaban was horror enough. It was a place that sent chills down his spine and put fear in his heart. He needed Draco, without him he wasn't going to survive.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Harry stayed with Ron and Hermione that night. The two of them had been living at the Burrow and it had been almost unbearable to receive the Weasley families grateful welcome and their fawning all over him at his return. They had been so happy to see him, relieved that he was all right, questioning why he had run off after the battle. Not even Hermione's insistence that Harry be left alone was enough to discourage them.

The onslaught of Weasley's however was not as unbearable as the thought of returning to that beautiful castle in Wales without Draco by his side. They had had such a wonderful evening planned and now he was without him.

There were no words to describe just how much he missed the Slytherin. The dreadful ache in his chest become a constant reminder that a small part of him that now belonged to Draco was missing. As the evening grew later the pain in his heart also became the reason that he failed to find solace in sleep.

He kept hearing the whispered words, Draco's last to him. I love you. He had meant it as a good bye he was sure, a fond farewell after everything they had been through together. Harry however was not going to allow that to be the last thing he said to him. He wanted to rescue Draco from the clutches of the Ministry of Magic and an undisclosed length of time in Azkaban if only so he could say it back and mean it.

Harry sat up in the living room of the Burrow, staring out of the window, up at the night sky that was littered with twinkling stars and the moon that was waning but still bright, illuminating the night time in a shimmering white light.

"Are you alright Harry?" Ginny asked, appearing rather suddenly at the bottom of the stairs, making Harry jump, he hadn't heard her coming, lost in his thoughts about Draco.

"Just a lot on my mind," He told her honestly as she came and sat beside him, perhaps positioning herself a little too close to him, Harry just didn't feel entirely comfortable with it.

"Is that why you left?" She asked him.

"Partly," Harry replied, not willing to go into his reasoning with her. Despite a few brief kisses that had been neither intense nor passionate, he felt numb to Ginny now. She was his best friends sister and he'd always care for her but only as a friend. If his past few days with Draco had shown him anything it was that he seemed to be gay, something he had never put much thought into but now seemed glaringly obvious.

"You seem so closed off Harry," She said with a sigh, attempting to cuddle up to him. "I wish you'd talk to me."

"Ginny, you do understand why I'm here right now don't you?" Harry asked her.

"I thought you'd come back," She said but Harry shook his head, "Then why?"

"I was travelling with Draco. When we went to attend Severus' funeral today he was arrested. I'm here because I'm going to the Ministry in the morning for his and his mother's trial. I need to set the record straight. I owe my life to them and I won't have them sent to Azkaban." Harry explained. He wished he could make the proud declaration that Draco was his boyfriend and that he was in love with him but Harry thought that Draco needed to hear it first.

"And what happens after that, will you just disappear again?" Ginny asked feeling a little hurt, she had always been of the belief that she and Harry would end up married with an obscene amount of children and deliriously happy together.

"I don't know but I won't be here, I'm sorry Ginny," He said and he truly was. What happened next he wasn't expecting, she leaned closer to him and placed her lips on his. Too shocked to realise what was going on he didn't immediately pull away which only spurred her on. It was when she tried to put her tongue in his mouth that he withdrew, looking at her in stunned bewilderment.

"I love you Harry …" She said with desperation.

"I just don't feel that way for you Ginny," Harry said as he got up, putting much needed distance between the two of them. "Believe me when I say it isn't you … you're amazing, truly you are."

"I don't think I understand," She said, her feelings hurt at his rejection.

"Ginny … I think I might be gay." He wanted to be honest with her, he didn't want to push her away but he needed her to understand that there was no chance that they would ever be together. He didn't want to hurt her, that had never been his goal. He couldn't help how things had turned out with Draco but there must have been a reason. A reason for him living, for feeling this passionately towards him … there had to be a reason because otherwise what was the point?

"Gay … but with who … you don't mean to tell me that you and Malfoy?" She asked completely surprised at this turn of events that to her was simply horrific.

"I don't know … I think that I might love him but I don't know. All I know is that he makes me happy when I'm with him. He's helped me through a few things since we've been gone. I wouldn't have survived without him Ginny."

Harry could see that he wasn't going to be getting the understanding or the compassion from the youngest Weasley child that he had hoped for. Her cheeks were going as red as her hair and it made Harry's heart sink to see this. He hadn't wanted to argue with Ginny, he really did value his friendship but it would never be anything more between them than that.

Angered, Ginny stood up and stormed off back upstairs. Harry sighed, running his hand through his messy raven hair, resuming his perch on the window seat, staring out across the moonlight gardens and wishing that he could be with Draco, even if that meant being locked in a cell in Azkaban for the night.

When morning dawned Harry was still sat at the window seat, having not moved nor slept at all for the entire night. The pain in his chest had become worse from being separated from Draco for so long. He showered and dressed, his sombre mood never lifting. He refused breakfast and wore his smartest robes. There was no way that he was leaving the Ministry of Magic without Draco being by his side.

"Are you ready to go?" Harry asked as Hermione came down, she too had chosen to wear her smartest robes and looked impeccably well groomed, however there was something about the look on her face that looked a little guilty.

"Yes but Ron isn't coming," She said and harry could see how much it pained her to tell him this.

"Why?" Harry asked, unable to comprehend why Ron wouldn't support him when he needed him. It was so like Ron to abandon him, it was starting to be a horrible habit of the red heads.

"He doesn't think that we should save Draco, he thinks they both deserve to rot in Azkaban for everything they've done." She explained which only made Harry angry,

"If it hadn't been for Narcissa Malfoy then I wouldn't have made it out of the forbidden forest alive, she saved my life. If it hadn't have been for Draco not telling Bellatrix who I was in Malfoy Manor when we were captured by snatchers then that could have ended a lot worse than it did. Does he not remember any of that?" Harry asked enraged, however attempting to keep his temper in check as he knew it wasn't Hermione's fault that her boyfriend was acting like a prize jerk.

"He knows all of that but he won't let slide all the bad things he did, to him to me … I'm still coming with you Harry, I want to help you both, I think it's the right thing to do," She said determinedly but Harry shook his head.

"I don't want to cause problems between you and Ron, Mione. I love you both, you know that even when Ron does act like a bloody idiot. I think I might be in love with Draco, I can't let him spend the rest of his life in Azkaban. I just couldn't do it. I need him to breath Mione," Harry said with a stifled sob, "It hurts that I can't be with him right now. It's all I can do to keep from dying."

"Oh Harry," She said going to him and embracing him in a comforting hug, she had seen the way they had looked at each other, she had suspected that they had feelings for one another but she could never had predicted just how deep it ran. "I don't care how grumpy Ron is at me for doing this, I'm going with you." She said with a stubborn determination. "I want you to be happy and if that means you need Mal- Draco then so be it."

"You're amazing, you know that right?" Harry asked as she released him from the embrace and wiped away the tears that had fallen at his painful confession.

"I might have been told a few times," She said with a fond smile at her best friend. It would cause arguments with Ron later but she didn't care. Hermione wasn't the kind of person to hold grudges and especially not at the expense of her friends.

"I can't believe you're going with him!" Ron said from the foot of the stairs, seemingly having been eavesdropping on at least part of the conversation.

"I'm doing the right thing Ronald, can't you see how miserable Harry is over this? Come with us, it isn't too late," Hermione said to her boyfriend who just stood glaring at the two of them.

"As always you're standing by him instead of me, I'm meant to be your boyfriend!" Ron said enraged. "It's either him or me this time Hermione."

"Don't do this Ronald," Hermione said sternly but there was nothing that could stop Ron's stupidity when he was in one of those moods.

"Hermione, stay here, I appreciate you wanting to help but you can't chose me, not this time, I don't want to ruin what you and Ron have, even if he is a stubborn git." Harry said with a pointed glare at his best friend.

"What did you call me?" Ron said as he strolled over to Harry confrontationally. The golden boy of Gryffindor stood strong and faced him.

"I think you heard me," He returned and it took Hermione pushing the two of them apart to separate them. If she hadn't then the two of them would have certainly come to blows.

"I think you should leave," Ron spat, giving his former best friend a look of utter disgust. "You aren't welcome here anymore."

"Ronald!" Hermione said in shock, she hadn't been expecting him to banish Harry from the burrow. The situation was getting way out of control.

"It's fine Mione, I love you, I'll get in contact soon to tell you how it went," Harry said to her, giving her a soft smile that hopefully portrayed the feeling that everything was going to be alright though he didn't feel as if it would be.

Harry turned on his heel and headed for the door, he hadn't even got outside of the wards before he heard Hermione calling out to him, asking him to slow down. Turning round with confusion he asked her what she was up to.

"I'm coming with you of course," She said with a smile, "We're in this together," She told him.

"What about Ron?" Harry asked uncertainly.

"He isn't happy but he'll get over it, at least he will if he wants to win me back." Hermione told him, though she didn't seem too happy.

"I didn't want to mess anything up between the two of you," Harry said regretfully. "I'm sorry that I did."

"You don't have to be sorry, he can be a right prat sometimes, he'll come round," She said, "But we have to go, we don't want to be late." Harry nodded in agreement, taking her by the hand and with a soft pop they were gone.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

They appeared in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic together and immediately started hurrying to the court rooms below. It was fortunate that they knew where they were going as they were already running a little late. Harry's stomach doing back flips as they ran. Somewhere close by Draco was alone and scared, Harry had to find him and let him know that it was going to be all right. Heads turned to look at them as they ran. The famous Harry Potter was back.

No one could quite believe who it was that they were seeing. It had been days and all that anyone could talk about was how Harry Potter had vanished after the war, potentially kidnapped by supporters still loyal to Voldemort. He was feared dead, captured or brutally tortured in the hands of Dark Witches or Wizards unknown. Yet here he was, alive and well, charging headlong through the Ministry of Magic for no apparent reason and not really looking where he was going, crashing into people in his haste, Hermione Granger following behind him looking frantic.

Together they descended down in one of the lifts, inter office memos fluttering around their heads, though Harry found himself unable to focus on anything other than finding Draco. His mind was consumed with it. He couldn't imagine not saving him from going to Azkaban, facing the possibility of living his life without Draco by his side. It was too much to think about, he didn't want to imagine his life without Draco in it.

"It's going to be okay Harry," Hermione said, trying to comfort him as the doors of the lift flung themselves open and the two of them hurried out towards court room five where the trial was being held. Hermione, who had contacts within the Ministry, had managed to get all of the details for them. Without waiting to be announced the two of them burst into the court room, surprising several of the Wizengamot who hadn't expected an intrusion.

The sight that met their eyes was enough to shatter Harry, Draco and Narcissa sat in two identical chairs both of them bound there by magical chains. Narcissa's face was tear stained and both she and her son looked as unkempt as Harry had ever seen them. Emerald green met molten silver and a thousand words were spoken between the two without a single sound ever passing their lips. The relief, the joy, the unadulterated happiness at seeing the raven haired Gryffindor was beyond anything Draco had ever felt before. Harry hadn't given up on him, he was here.

"Testimony for the defence," Harry said loudly, making himself known. The entire Wizengamot turned to stare at them in shock. None of them could believe what they were seeing, Harry Potter was here to defend two people who were clearly deatheaters by the branding on their forearms and also suspected of having something to do with his disappearance. Whispered mutters broke out through the courtroom at their saviours sudden appearance.

"You're here to defend them?" The chief warlock asked, looking both surprised and annoyed. He had assumed that this would be an easy case to deal with, ten minutes and he would have two more deatheaters in Azkaban for the rest of their lives. He hadn't expected this, it was going to ruffle him up the wrong way all day if these two went free.

"I am," Harry said confidently. "I'm here to testify to the fact that if it wasn't for these two people in front of you then I would be dead and Voldemort," A collective shudder went through the room at the mention of his name, "Would still be alive."

"Explain yourself," The chief warlock demanded looking stern and unhappy. He was an older wizard and didn't look like he had much in the way of patience. Harry took an instant dislike to him.

"It has not been made public knowledge yet about what happened the year I was on the run from Voldemort and his followers and to be honest I never planned to make it public, however considering the circumstance I don't have much choice. It was during my quest to destroy Voldemort that I was captured by snatchers and taken to Malfoy Manor. Draco Malfoy was asked to identify me by Bellatrix Lestrange and he refused to do so, putting his own life at risk and allowing me the opportunity to escape with my life." Harry said, trying not to look at Draco, if he did then all his emotions that had been pent up would show through. He had to make the Wizengamot take him seriously.

"And what of his mother, Narcissa Malfoy, how do you excuse her guilt?" The chief warlock asked, glaring at the two suspected deatheaters, "What was her role in all of this?"

"It was on a separate occasion that Narcissa saved my life," Harry said taking a deep breath and preparing himself for the explanation. He hadn't wanted to ever remember that night in the forbidden forest again but he wanted to save Draco more than he wanted to forget. "It has been well documented of course that I went to the forbidden forest to meet Voldemort during the great battle of Hogwarts, I allowed him to kill me and didn't raise a wand to defend myself. Because of this I didn't die and it was Narcissa Malfoy who realised that I wasn't dead despite the killing curse and she then lied to Voldemort, telling him that I was dead. It was only because of her actions that I was able to finally defeat Voldemort. She put her life on the line to help me, neither of them have any crime to answer for."

"Two good deeds do not erase a lifetime of dark magic and dark deeds," The chief warlock declared loudly and there was a murmur of agreement from the rest of the Wizengamot which made Harry's heart sink. He was starting to lose him and he wasn't going to let that happen under any circumstances.

"And if there was proof that they were coerced out of fear, that both Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy only did as Voldemort told them out of fear and worry for the safety of their son, would that differ your opinion?" Harry questioned, his anger seeping through. He was glad that Hermione stood close behind him, if she hadn't have been there then he might have lost his temper and started shouting at them. There was a clear bias in the room that Harry couldn't stand, it was an old grudge which didn't seem very fair.

"It might but there is no such proof," The chief warlock said with confidence.

"I have seen for myself the grave of a four year old girl whom Voldemort killed shortly before his first downfall, the first time he failed to kill me. I will happily commit my memories to this fact that to submit to his regime Voldemort murdered the older child of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy and then proceeded to threaten the life of their only remaining child so that they would submit to him and do his bidding" Harry said and at this statement the entire Wizengamot started whispering to one another again. "Furthermore I would like to add that I am under no spell, potion or enchantment, something I am happy to be tested on, I am here of my own accord and I expect for both Narcissa and Draco Malfoy to be excused of all that they are accused of. If you attempt to lock them up in Azkaban after the service they have provided me with then the Ministry of Magic will lose any respect I had for them and could never hope to add me to their ranks of employees."

Harry didn't want to work for the Ministry, he no longer wanted to become and Auror but he would do it if it managed to persuade the Wizengamot to let them go free. He would have sacrificed just about anything to save Draco. As long as he had Draco by his side he could cope with just about anything. Dangling himself in front of the Ministry as their poster boy would be a tempting offer that Harry knew they would never turn down.

"And why are you here Miss Granger?" The chief warlock asked, looking at the plain girl with an intense stare. He wasn't happy with the way things were progressing here but he had to admit that the offer Harry potter presented of coming to work for the Ministry was just what they had hoped for. He was after all a very powerful wizard with a great deal of respect, something the Ministry of Magic sorely needed after Voldemort had infiltrated their ranks.

"I'm here to testify that Harry is of sound mind, I have seen him twice over the course of his absence from the wizarding world and I also bore witness to the incident at Malfoy Manor where Draco refused to positively identify Harry to Bellatrix Lestrange. The wizarding world would be in a sorry state if it hadn't have been for the two people you have chained before you. Harry has done a great service to every person in this room, something that wouldn't have been possible without the Malfoy's. They don't deserve to be sent to Azkaban," She said and it was her testimonial that finally sealed the fates of the two Malfoy's.

The chief warlock nodded his head, considering everything that he had been told. He looked around to the rest of the Wizengamot who were exchanging quite whispers and looks of astonishment. He debated demanding to see the memories and testing to see if Potter was under any form of enchantments but he knew it would be more time wasted. Besides he had something much better in mind, it was a prize to be reeled in and displayed with pride.

"I ask for a show of hands," He said, clearly displeased with the way the morning had gone but smug in his resolve that even though two known deatheaters would go free the Ministry and gained something better. "Those that wish to clear all charges against Narcissa and Draco Malfoy?" The majority was outstanding, very few did not raise their hands. "Those that wish to see Draco and Narcissa Malfoy sent to Azkaban for the crimes they are charged with," He asked, only five of the plum robed Wizengamot voted for this. "Cleared of all charges," The chief warlock announced and relief flooded through Harry as the chains that bound Draco and Narcissa to the chairs released them.

It was all Harry could do not to leap across the divide that separated them and hug him, but they simply looked at one another, relief and love passing between them as the room started to clear. "We did it Harry," Hermione said smiling, "They're free."

Harry nodded as he watched Narcissa hug her son to her with relief that they were free, "We did it," Harry said as they too headed for the exit. The Gryffindor wanted nothing more than to go to Draco and to hold him but apparently they weren't quite finished just yet. "Mr Potter," The chief warlock called and begrudgingly Harry went to him.

"Yes sir," He asked politely. He couldn't very well be rude to the man that had just cleared Draco of everything he was accused of.

"I expect your application to join the Ministry to be sent to the appropriate people within the next two weeks. If you fail in this then I am more than sure that further guilt can be exposed to send the Malfoy's to Azkaban." He said his voice low and quite.

Harry glared at him, tensing, "Is that a threat, Sir?" Harry asked.

"More of a friendly suggestion Mr Potter," The warlock said with a pointed stare.

"Give me a month and it'll be done," Harry said and he watched as the chief warlock considered this for a moment before nodding his agreement.

"A month it is, don't disappoint me Potter."

"What was all that about?" Hermione asked as they left the court room to go in search of Draco and his mother. Harry never got the opportunity to answer Hermione before an excited bundle of blonde energy bounded happily into his open arms.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," he said as Draco began kissing Harry repeatedly anywhere he could reach, holding him close. Narcissa stood off to the side, watching the joy her son displayed so openly in dismay. He had always been such a reserved child, never had she seen him like this. Harry was clearly a bad influence on him. Though Harry supposed that it didn't help that they were practically snogging in front of her. "I knew you'd come for us." Draco said feeling deliriously happy.

"Of course," Harry said, returning Draco's embrace fully, he had missed him so much, he hoped never to have to go without him for a very long time. Just to hold him in his arms was a relief. "Draco, there is something I have to tell you," Harry began, breaking apart a little so that he could look into his eyes as he said this.

"What is it?" Draco asked with concern at the seriousness he heard in Harry's voice. Of course he feared the worse, scared that his whole world was about to come crashing down as Harry rejected him, told him that it was over.

"I should have told you when you said it to me before you were arrested and I'm sorry that I didn't but I can tell you now. Draco, I love you too."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

"I'm going to go back to the Burrow, see if I can fix things with Ron" Hermione announced as the four of them reached the atrium of the Ministry of Magic, all of them ready to leave, "Harry can I have a quick word before I go?" She asked and Harry nodded, realising that he hadn't had a chance to answer her question before. Hermione dragged him off to one side, away from Narcissa and Draco who watched after them curiously.

"What's the matter Mione?" Harry asked with worry at the expression on her face. She really did look overly concerned.

"What did the chief warlock want, when he called you over after the verdict was given, you didn't look very happy while he was speaking to you, I'm curious as to what was said?" She asked and Harry sighed with a resigned exhaustion. He couldn't ever have escaped her keen eyes and inquisitive mind.

"He said that I would have to be working for the Ministry by this time next month or he was going to find a reason to put them both back in Azkaban," Harry said to her.

"Do you want to work for them?" She asked, looking at her best friend imploringly but feeling as if she already knew the answer.

"No but that doesn't matter, Draco is a free man. I would have done anything to make that happen," Harry told her honestly.

"Are you going to tell him what you had to agree to?" She asked and Harry shrugged his shoulders, not knowing if he would divulge this information but supposing that he would have to eventually. It wasn't like he would be able to start working as an Auror for the Ministry and not tell the man who he was madly in love with what he was doing.

"I will eventually but not right now, I just want to be happy with him for a while, I think we deserve that. Thank you for coming today, you have no idea how much it meant to me and I really hope Ron comes round." Harry said to her and she nodded glumly.

"I'm sure we'll be fine, just please take care of yourself and don't let him hurt you," She replied, drawing him into a long hug. If Draco hadn't known that they were only friends and that Harry was gay then he might have felt a little jealous at the lingering embrace that they shared.

"I hope you realise what you're doing, getting involved with him," Narcissa said to her son, looking at him with disapproval and distaste. It didn't seem to matter that she had saved his life in the forbidden forest on the night of the great battle or that Harry had just spared them both from going back to Azkaban. Harry still wasn't good enough for her son but then no one ever would be.

"I know what I'm doing mum, I love him, I can't change that" Draco said, watching Harry with affection as Hermione released him from their embrace, looking at him with fondness, smiling at him.

"Just do me one favour my sweet little Dragon," Narcissa said as Hermione apperated away and Harry started heading back in their direction. "No children, at least not until you're married."

Draco turned to look at his mother with a mix of horror, bewilderment and shock at what she'd just said. "Excuse me?" He asked her looking at her in disbelief, "What did you just say?"

"You heard me Draco," Narcissa said as Harry returned to them, placing his hand firmly within Draco's, linking their fingers together.

"Everything okay?" Harry asked eyeing the two Malfoy's sceptically, realising that he had just interrupted something but not entirely sure what.

"Everything is perfect young man," Narcissa said rather briskly to Harry. "I suppose I should say thank you for testifying in our defence. It was gracious of you to do what you did today. I am in your debt for sparing us a life sentence in Azkaban."

"You owe me nothing," Harry said kindly to her, ignoring her rather casual tone that seemed to dismiss him. "You saved my life, whatever your motives it doesn't change the facts. That was the least I could do in return for everything you've done for me," Harry said and Narcissa bristled at this.

"Yes, well, I suppose I had better be going." She said sharply, turning back to her son, "Remember what I said Draco," She said giving him a pointed look before disapperating.

"What was all that about?" Harry asked feeling a little confused.

"I could ask you the same," Draco returned giving Harry a meaningful look and Harry just sighed. He didn't want to explain right now, he just wanted to enjoy being with Draco again.

"I'll explain it to you later, I don't want to think about it right now, it'll only ruin things between us. I want us to have that one night that was stolen from us yesterday evening, I want to forget that you were taken away from me for a night, can we do that?" Harry asked hopefully.

Draco smiled at him, "Of course we can," Draco said taking Harry into his arms and holding him. Something had shifted between them, the tenderness and the affection had developed into so much more since they had admitted their feelings for one another but the solitude they'd enjoyed without interference was long gone. As they held each other in the heart of the main entrance of the Ministry of Magic there was no doubt to anyone who witnessed their adoring embrace that the two teenagers were so much more than just friends.

Draco just didn't know yet how far away their perfect solitude that they had enjoyed together was drifting. That in a month Harry would be forced into working at the Ministry, something he had never wanted to do. Harry didn't have to tell him yet, they were going to have their perfect evening. He could tell him in the morning and they would deal with it then.

Draco wrapped his arms around Harry in a fiercely protective embrace and apperated them back to the bedroom they had shared the night before last. It hadn't changed, the fire still roared in the hearth, the sea still crashed against the rocks below them and the bed stood as the centre piece in the room, beckoning them into the seductively soft sheets.

Harry couldn't have been more nervous, his heart hammering against his chest so aggressively and his breath coming in short ragged gasps. Draco looked down at him, reaching his hand up to gently caress the golden boy's raven hair. He leant down to capture his lips in a beautifully tender kiss.

"I'm scared," Harry admitted quietly as Draco began to trail kisses down his neck, sucking and nibbling gently at the olive skin as he slowly and seductively undid each one of the buttons on Harry's robes. There were so many of them that there was a purpling mark at the nape of the Gryffindor's neck by the time he was finished.

Draco pushed the fabric aside exposing the scared and tainted torso of Harry Potter, his hands spread as they felt their way up across his abdomen and towards his shoulders, mesmerizing every curve, every scar and every blemish. Harry's breath caught as the blondes hands ghosted over erect nipples that stood stiff and pink, begging for attention.

"You don't have to be scared," Draco whispered soothingly, "If you're not ready…" He began to say but Harry stopped him with a desperate kiss as he shrugged his robes off his shoulders letting the thick, heavy material pool on the ground. This left him naked from the waist up, Draco's hands running up and down his back, grasping at him, pulling him closer.

Frantically, desperate to rid themselves of the barriers between their bodies, Harry tugged at the buttons of Draco's shirt, a few of them coming loose from the thread that bound them in place and they fell to the floor at the rough, desperate tugs, scattering like the Gryffindor's inhibitions. Being with the Slytherin gave him a confidence that he couldn't explain, his fear no longer seemed to matter.

Pushing the thin material over pale slender shoulders it fell to the floor, forgotten. They kicked off their shoes and socks, their lips never breaking contact, tongues colliding with feverish desperation as they moved blindly towards the bed. Draco fell backwards landing on the soft mattress, Harry atop of him.

Automatically Draco parted his legs and allowed Harry to settle between them, the thin material of their dress trousers doing little to conceal their raging hard-ons as they ground together, hip bones bumping together in their frantic need for contact.

Slowly Harry worked his way down Draco's chest with his lips, savouring every imperfection and flaw that he found, marvelling in its marble like qualities. He paid close attention to each light pink nipple, sucking gently on each, his teeth grazing against the sensitive tip causing the blonde to writhe and arch his hips beneath him in pleasure.

Teasing licks and soft kisses trailed down Draco's abdomen which was a solid slab of muscle, Harry made quick work of the black dress trousers, unbuttoning and pulling down the zipper at an agonisingly slow pace causing Draco to groan with the need to feel his lover. Harry shuffled the thin material down over pale, slender thighs, Draco raising his hips to aid their progress, his underwear going in the same haul.

"Fuck," Draco moaned as Harry's tongue flickered over the tip of Draco's cock, Harry couldn't help but grin in triumph at his lovers reaction as he ran his tongue the length of his long, thick shaft. Harry had every intention of worshiping Draco this evening and he wasn't going to stop until he had him begging. Harry's heart was still beating wildly in his chest as he supressed his undeniable fear, praying to Merlin that he was doing this right, not wanting to disappoint him. It was his biggest fear being that Draco wouldn't want him when he found out how bad he was in the bedroom. After all the blonde had more experience than he did. Harry had never done anything remotely like this before.

Finally taking Draco into his mouth, his tongue swirling around the tip as he began to suck, slowly and steadily taking him to the hilt, fighting back his gag reflex as the hard cock hit the back of his throat. The blonde was moaning furiously as Harry began to stroke the puckered entrance with his fingers, probing gently so as not to hurt him.

Draco tried frantically not to buck upwards, fearful of choking his lover who the blonde had discovered had a natural talent for delivering pleasure with his tongue. The Slytherin could hardly contain himself, his hands clawing at the sheets and entangling themselves in Harry's hair as he lost himself in his lover.

Harry tasted his lovers salty pre-cum on his tongue and stopped his assault, allowing Draco's magnificent cock to plop out of his mouth with an unattractive wet sound, he didn't want his Draco to come just yet. Harry wanted them to reach their climax together, while he was inside of his man. Draco had little time to feel disappointed before he felt a second finger join the first at the tight ring of muscle. Harry marvelled at how hot Draco felt and how tight he was.

"Harry," Draco gasped as the Gryffindor found that sweet spot inside him, grazing against it and making the blonde cry out with agonising desire. "I need you," The Slytherin managed to say through struggled breaths as a third finger was added without the aid of lubrication other than Harry's own saliva.

It may have been Harry's first time but he was not stupid, he knew better than to try to enter Draco without preparation. "I'm here," Harry said as he kissed his way back up his lovers chest, "Lube?" He asked, not wanting to hurt him but desperate now to be inside of him. In that moment if he had the choice between being inside of his lover and seeing the dawn the following day then he would use his last night on earth to take pleasure in Draco's body, worshipping him and then happily slipped away to whatever came next.

Leaning over to the bedside table, Harry expected him to grab his wand but there was a small jar in the drawer filled with what looked like blue spunk but smelt sweetly of artificial blueberries. Taking some in his hand Draco reached down between them, grasping Harry's cock firmly and coating it with the delicious smelling substance. Harry was too lost in the sensation of his lover stroking him to really think about why he had had lube so close at hand or to consider the fact that it wasn't a new container of the stuff. He had to beg for Draco to stop, not wanting to orgasm without being buried deeply inside of the blonde.

"I want to feel you Harry," Draco pleaded, their erections rubbing together briefly as Harry positioned himself, ready to enter. Draco lifted his hips to allow the Gryffindor better access, he took hold of him and began to push himself inside. Harry only pausing only when he saw pain register on the blondes face, continuing only when Draco urged him to keep going. The raven haired young man did not stop until he was buried to the hilt in the delicious tight heat of his Slytherin.

"Fuck me, please … Merlin … if you don't move soon …" Draco gasped in frustration. Harry bit his lip as he slowly began to move inside of his lover, slow at first, not wanting to hurt him. He kept himself poised over the slight teen beneath him, his arms trembling with the effort of it. Draco wrapping his legs around Harry's waist, his heels at the Gryffindor's back, urging him deeper. As Harry felt his climax building in the tightness of his balls he sped up his thrusts, they became faster, harder and deeper.

Reaching down between them Harry matched the thrusts with stroking Draco's hard shaft, wanting them to reach their completion together. Draco however came first, his seed spilling over their stomachs in thick, hot bursts, his muscle tightening around Harry, still buried deep inside him. As Draco contracted around him he lost control, emptying himself inside of Draco.

Harry slumped, breathless and sweaty on the bed beside his spent lover. When he went to remove himself Draco stopped him, shaking his head. "I want to fall asleep with you inside me," He muttered breathlessly. The suggestion and the deep lusty tone the blonde had used so erotic that Harry couldn't argue with him.

They shifted their positions a little so that Harry was spooning his lover, cock still buried within the tight crevice as it started to soften. Neither could have been happier than they were in that moment. They lay in silence listening to the fire crackle merrily in the hearth and the ocean crash against the rocks until sleep claimed them.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

"Get out Hermione," Ron bellowed, he was in a towering rage, feeling as if his girlfriend and the love of his life had betrayed him. After everything Malfoy had done to them she had defended him. He had never thought that he would ever see Hermione defend a Deatheater.

"Ron, please let me explain," She pleaded, she had known that he was going to be angry but she had never seen him like this before, his face as red as his hair and his hands clenched into fists. She was only glad that he didn't have his wand to hand.

"Explain what Hermione? He called you a mudblood, he stood by and did nothing while his Aunt tortured you, he almost killed me while he was trying to get to Dumbledore. You defended him, you helped keep him out of Azkaban!" Ron yelled.

"Because Harry loves him!" She screamed back at him. "We're losing him as a friend and as a person, if Malfoy went to Azkaban then Harry would be completely adrift, who knows what he'd do or where he'd go. Malfoy is at least keeping him grounded. I did it for Harry not for Malfoy." She tried to explain.

"Harry doesn't need Malfoy," Ron said, practically exploding at her.

"If he didn't need Malfoy then why did he leave with him after the war was over, why didn't he stay with us?" She asked him, "Whatever Malfoy can give him we can't right now. I heard Malfoy say that he loved him and I heard Harry say it back."

"What does that have to do with anything? If you hadn't saved him from Azkaban they wouldn't be together anymore," Ron raged.

"Harry can't grieve for anyone else Ron, it would destroy him to lose another person he cared about. We have to make him realise how wrong what they have is."

"Or maybe if Harry is that damaged that he can love Malfoy he's just too far gone to be helped, did you ever think of that Hermione?" Ron asked her, he hadn't unclenched his fists and was still fuming with anger.

"He's not too far gone," Hermione said with tears in her eyes.

"He had a part of a lunatics soul in him for seventeen years, people died because of him, people he'd never even met, you think that doesn't fuck a bloke up? You really think he isn't so far down the road of fucked up that he doesn't know what he's doing? You just lied to the entire Wizengamot and let a deatheater walk free, which is an offence as it is, you could get arrested Hermione. Is Malfoy worth that? Are you going to be able to look Bill in the face that was mauled by Greyback, look at George who still hasn't said anything since Fred died and say that it's worth it?"

"No, Malfoy isn't worth it but Harry is … I can't believe that he can't be brought back from this. In fact I refuse to believe that he can't. He's just lost right now and after everything that's happened to him I can't blame him for feeling that way and he needs our help." Hermione said pleadingly, trying to make him see her side of it but Ron didn't want to. He felt too betrayed. Harry had turned his back on them when he had left without a word and done so with Malfoy.

"If you won't leave then I will, I just can't look at you right now," Ron said in frustrated agitation heading for the door.

"Ron don't leave, please," Hermione begged but Ron didn't even look back as he walked out of the Burrow, slamming the door behind him leaving Hermione in tears.

"He's right you know," Ginny said, coming down the stairs.

"You heard all of that?" Hermione asked trying to dry her eyes.

"I think the Lovegood's on the next hill over heard all that," Ginny responded a little stiffly. She liked Hermione she really did and she even still loved Harry in some ways but on this occasion she had to agree with her brother.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said as she sniffed hopelessly.

"No you're not," Ginny said simply, "Not for what you did, you're sorry that Ron's angry and that no one can see why you did what you did. I get that you're trying to protect Harry. No one can understand that better than me but you have to let him be. He'll come back to us when he's ready."

Hermione couldn't understand how Ginny had become so cold. Then she remembered how much she had lost. Blindly she had followed Harry believing that she was helping him and only now she realised how badly she had messed up, hurting the man she loved. She doubted she would ever be able to make this up to him but she swore that she would at least try.

HPDM

Harry awoke feeling hot and sticky. He was covered with come and sweat, neither of them having been in the right frame of mind to cast scurgify before they fell asleep. He remembered having fallen asleep while still being inside of Draco, however while they had slept he had come out. He was now lying on his back with Draco curled around him, one arm across his stomach, his head resting upon the Gryffindor's chest.

As he lay there unmoving it was the first opportunity when Harry could reflect on everything that had happened without lust clouding his mind. He had fallen out with his best friend, potentially destroying his relationship with Hermione that had taken them seven years to build up to what it was. He had lied in court to the Wizengamot too.

He knew what Draco had done, the cursed necklace, the poisoned mead that had almost killed Ron. Of course he knew that like himself Draco had never wanted to do any of that, he had been forced into the role and fulfilled it out of fear. Harry had to believe that he was sorry for his past actions, that he was going to try and make amends. After all he hadn't been able to kill Dumbledore when he had been given the opportunity. He hadn't told Bellatrix who he was when they had been captured during the war. He needed to believe that he had done the right thing keeping Draco and his mother out of Azkaban. They loved each other and the man whom Harry had seen over the past few days was worth saving.

He had just shared the most intimate and special moment of his life with a man that he hardly knew and was beginning to doubt a little. Everything about the Slytherin had clouded his mind for days, his scent, his touch, and his words. Harry had become hypnotised by his majestic beauty and ability to accept him as he was.

"Morning gorgeous," Draco said with a smile as he kissed a trial of soft kisses up his lovers neck, savouring the salty taste of sweat upon his olive skin. Draco intended to savour every moment he had with Harry because he really was his hero now, his saviour.

"Morning," Harry responded, a little distracted by his troubling thoughts.

"You okay?" Draco asked with concern as he sensed the less than stellar mood that Harry was in this morning. A fear struck Draco that maybe the Gryffindor was regretting what they had done last night, scared of being rejected after something so perfect.

"Yeah," Harry replied bluntly, "I need a shower," He said suddenly, sitting up and running a hand through messy raven hair with agitation.

"Want me to join you?" Draco asked sitting up behind his lover and kissing tenderly at his shoulder blade.

"No," Harry said, "I just want some time alone to think." Getting up and heading for the bathroom leaving Draco alone on the bed feeling rejected and hurt, confused about what he had done wrong to initiate the cold shoulder from Harry.

Leaving Harry alone in the en-suite bathroom Draco went to the bathroom down the hall. He had showered and dressed before Harry had emerged. The house elves had changed the sheets that had been saturated with bodily fluids and made the bed.

Draco could feel an ache in his chest at the rejection Harry had dealt him. Perhaps it had been too soon for them, they had let their hormones control them and had slept together too soon. It was clear to the Slytherin that Harry now regretted them sleeping together and he wasn't sure how they would get over this. It had been so much easier before they had kissed in Privet Drive.

Harry emerged dressed and towel drying his hair. Draco was sat on the bed trying to think about what he could do to fix his relationship with Harry. Surely things weren't supposed to be this difficult so early, he was sure of it. An awkward silence filled the room as Harry perched on the bed his back to the blonde.

"Can I take you somewhere today?" Draco asked quietly, fearing that Harry might say no and ask for more time alone to think. He didn't think he would have been able to cope if this happened.

"Sure," Harry replied as he set the towel down. "When do you want to go?"

"Now, please," Draco pleaded quietly.

"Okay," Harry said slightly taken aback. "Is there any particular reason why you're in such a rush to leave right this minute?"

"I'll explain when we get there," Draco said as he shoved his feet into his shoes. He was desperate to get some answers but he didn't want to get into it here. It was too personal, this was the room they'd made love in for the first time, he couldn't taint those memories by causing an argument.

Leaving their backpacks behind Draco approached Harry, holding open his arms so that they could apperate together in an embrace, the hurt seeping through when Harry hesitated for a moment before going to him. Draco enveloped him in a hug, enjoying the musky scent of his hair, fearful that it would be the last time he was this close to Harry.

With a pop they apperated away from the castle and the intimacy of that room. Harry looked around with confusion when he realised that they were back in the hallway at number four privet drive. "Dray … what are we doing here?" Harry asked and Draco looked away at the familiarity of the pet name Harry had for him, a sign that there was still affection there. He was almost unable to bear the pain that it caused.

"This is where it all went wrong," Draco said with a sadness in his voice.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, they were still holding one another, neither wanting to break the contact they had with their arms around the other. Harry may have had his doubts but there was one thing that he was sure of and that was that he loved Draco.

"I kissed you," Draco explained, "If I hadn't then we'd still be okay, we'd still be happy."

"Oh Dray …" Harry said closing his eyes and resting his forehead against the blondes, their noses bumping together. "It didn't go wrong," He said softly to his lover, "I'm sorry you feel like that."

"You've been so cold to me all morning," Draco said heartbroken, relishing the contact, their lips so close that they breathed the same air.

"I'm sorry," Harry said pathetically.

"Don't be sorry, be Harry, my Harry," Draco pleaded.

"I need time Dray, time to figure a few things out," Harry said as they were interrupted by a bright blue otter shaped light that bounded around Harry, ready to deliver it's message.

"Harry, I need to see you, alone, meet me at the leaky cauldron," Was all the little otter said before it vanished. Draco could hardly breath, realising that Harry was about to leave him.

"You're going, aren't you?" Draco questioned quietly, still holding Harry close to him, unwilling to loosen his grip or let go completely.

"It's Hermione, I have to … but maybe this has come at a good time," Harry said, tears in his eyes. "It'll give me a chance to think, which I can't do when I'm around you. You're all I can think about when we're this close, being with you, touching you, kissing you. I just need to figure a few things out," Harry told him and as the explanation as to why he was leaving washed over Draco he too began to cry.

"How will we find each other?" Draco asked, breathless in his anxiety.

"Do you remember those muggle phones we bought?" Draco nodded. "Keep it on and with its battery fully charged like I showed you. We'll always be able to find each other," Harry said as he placed a soft kiss on Draco's lips. "I promise I'll come back to you," He said as he disentangled from Draco's embrace and with a soft pop he was gone leaving Draco alone in an empty muggle house, a crushing pain in his chest with nothing but a kiss, a promise and a muggle mobile phone.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Harry apperated to the Leaky Cauldron just as Hermione has asked him to. He almost thought that he had been splinched with the amount of pain that he was in when he had arrived. It took him several moments for him to realise that he hadn't been splinched at all and the pain that he was feeling was his heart breaking at leaving Draco behind.

At first he couldn't go inside, struggling to find the will power to go and see Hermione instead of going back to Draco. All he had was the phone in his jean pocket and his wand, he had left Draco with everything else. A sign that he would be coming back. He hoped that it would be enough for him. He just needed some time to figure things out. At least Hermione supported him when it came to Draco, maybe he could talk things through with her.

However when he saw her he knew that she wouldn't want to talk about his relationship with Draco, her eyes were red from crying and she looked as if she hadn't slept a wink. He knew that he had been the cause of this and he hated that Ron had taken it so badly. He hadn't realised how much his relationship with Draco would hurt Ron as much as this, enough to hurt Hermione, the woman he had loved for seven years whether he had realised it or not.

She stood up and hugged him when he approached her. She had chosen a table towards the rear of the pub and halfway in the shadows so it would be hard to spot them. The embrace was not something he had been expecting but he accepted it without a word. She had done him a great service the day before and it was clear that she was paying for it dearly now.

"What happened?" Harry asked her as they took their seats.

"Ron left me, at least I think he did, he can't look at me, won't talk to me."

"I'm so sorry Hermione. I never imagined that he would act like this. If I had known then I never would have asked you to do this."

"Harry …" Hermione said, unable to see how he could be so clueless. "How can you not see why he would be this upset?" She asked him, pain evident in her face as she spoke. "After everything he's done and you can't imagine that Ron might be this upset?"

"I don't understand, why did you help me then?" Harry asked her as he watched his best friend completely shatter into a million tiny emotional fragments of her former self.

"Because you clearly care about him, I only wanted you to be happy but it's cost me everything Harry. Draco did unspeakable things, giving that cursed necklace to Katie Bell, he almost poisoned and killed Ron in his quest to kill Dumbledore. He watched when Bellatrix tortured me and he did nothing to stop it."

"But he did good too," Harry said in protest.

"I know he did and I love you for only seeing the good in people Harry I really do but think of how he acted all throughout our time at school, he relished the fact that he was the son of a deatheater, he was proud of it. Money and status are all that matter to him. How do you know he isn't just using you to stay out of Azkaban? You can't tell me that you have any proof other than his word that he isn't."

"I know he lowered his wand that night on the Astronomy tower, he would never have killed Dumbledore, I know that he didn't identify me to Bellatrix when he knew that it was me and I know that his mother saved my life in the forbidden forest."

"Just because he lacked the courage of his convictions doesn't mean he's a good person Harry," Hermione said pointedly. "He told Bellatrix that it was Ron and me, who else would you have been? I don't think that you can trust him and I don't want to see you hurting."

"Is Ron really mad?" Harry asked feeling his heart sink as if it were a rock in the ocean as Hermione nodded her head.

"You can't go back to him Harry, he isn't right for you, it's been splashed across every wizarding publication apart from the Quibbler, pictures of the two of you together at the Ministry of magic. Claim enchantment, say it was a brief fling, anything but you can't go back to him."

"I can't do that," Harry said breathlessly, the idea of leaving Draco horrifying. "I love him Mione, more than anything in my entire life. You and Ron mean everything to me but what I feel for him … it doesn't compare."

"Ron won't forgive you Harry, not after everything Draco did to him and to me. You've been obsessed with him since sixth year that's all this is, obsession. It isn't love, it can't be love."

"Harry Potter?" A male voice said, Harry turned to see who had spoken his name and saw an older gentleman looked ashen faced and furious. Harry didn't recognise him and wasn't in the mood to talk to other people. His heart ached horribly at his separation from Draco and his brain was clouded by his talk with Hermione. He certainly wasn't prepared for what happened next. "This is for Katie," The older gentleman had said before his fist had connected with his jaw.

When Harry looked up the older man was gone and Hermione had leapt from her seat to see if any serious damage had been done. "What was that for?" harry asked as he rubbed at his jaw that felt tender to the touch. It would bruise but nothing had been broken fortunately.

"I think that might have been Katie Bell's father," Hermione informed him sadly.

"Why would he want to punch me?" Harry asked in shock, not connecting the dots. Hermione gave him a sad look before shaking her head, realising that he truly couldn't work out what the Bell family had against him.

"Draco could have killed Katie Harry, she almost died, she was in St Mungos for months after she put on that cursed necklace. It was never meant for her, it was meant for Dumbledore but she was the one who got hurt. I'm guessing they wanted Draco to pay for what they did to her."

"Oh," Harry said a little shocked. Of course he hadn't forgotten but he believed that Draco had changed, he wanted to be different. He had to cling to that, he had to believe that the cruel deatheater, the snobbish spoilt brat was no more. He hadn't been that way when they had been together. He had been someone else, someone kind and beautiful, at least he had to him.

"There will be others Harry, there are a lot of people that have been hurt by the Malfoy's and you just let them walk free because of your feelings, which I still can't believe are love. I think we need to get you away from him for a while."

"Mione …" Harry began but he could see how much she was hurting and he had been the one to cause that. He missed Draco terribly but he couldn't destroy Hermione for him, he just couldn't do it. He loved her too much. She was like the sister that he had never had. The Weasley's were the closest thing that he had to family, he couldn't turn his back on them, not after everything that they had done for him. "Okay," Harry said realising that he needed to listen to Hermione at least for a while.

He had been so wrapped up in Draco, their relationship intense and passionate, he couldn't even tell if what he was feeling was obsession or love. When he was with the Slytherin everything seemed so simple, so clean cut. Now that they were apart he ached for him, yearned for him desperately but that didn't make it right.

"You won't go back to him?" She asked looking into his eyes and seeing the unmistakable pain that echoed in his brilliantly green iris'. It hurt her to see him like that but she wanted him back, she had to prove to Ron that he wasn't fucked up beyond repair. Their Harry was still here, the war hadn't destroyed him.

"Not for the moment, I can't make any promise to you other than that. It hurts Mione, to be away from him, I miss him so much. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to do it but I'll try. If that is what it takes for you and Ron to work things out then I'll do it. I can't lose either of you, I'm not going to make a choice between you two and Draco. You may not believe it but I do love him, with every fibre of my being. I'm going to do everything I can to make you both see that and accept him. I've been through too much with you two. You're my best friends, I'll do whatever it takes."

"And what happens if Ron can't accept it, what will you do then?" Hermione asked, she felt unbelievably saddened at the anguish in her best friends voice and wasn't sure what to think anymore. She had helped him because she didn't want him hurt and she had lost Ron because of her actions. By trying to make it up to him and talk to Harry she was still hurting him. She didn't know what to do. Those two boys meant everything to her and nothing she did seemed to work out how she wanted it to.

"I can't think like that," He answered her honestly, "I have to try." She nodded her head in understanding. She at least had Harry back with her now, it wouldn't take long for him to forget about Draco, she needed to believe that because then everything could go back to normal between them. Ron would hold the grudge for a while but maybe when Harry and Ginny started dating that would change. They would have their friendship back and everything would be as good as it had been before the war. She could only hope that that was the case anyway.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

As it turned out the Daily Prophet had been particularly unkind in regards to Harry and how he had saved Draco and Narcissa Malfoy from Azkaban. There were so many rumours and speculation over what had happened and why, ninety per cent of it complete rubbish of course but Harry couldn't expect anything else of the Daily Prophet, though Which Wizard was now getting just as bad.

None of the wizarding publications believed that Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived-twice, saviour of the entire wizarding world and destroyer of the Dark Lord Voldemort could have legitimately and legally fallen in love with Draco Malfoy, the son of a deatheater. They all suspected foul play was involved somewhere along the lines. Just like Hermione they all suspected that the Malfoy's were using him for their own gain.

Suspicion was cast heavily upon Narcissa and Draco who were accused of bewitching Harry though it was all just speculation and rumour. There was no proof to the accusations and Harry knew the Ministry wouldn't act on it, at least not while they had Harry's assurance that he would be working for them within a month. As long as Harry kept up his end of the bargain the Malfoy's were safe from the grasp of the ministry.

Hermione had also been right when she'd said that the Bell family were not the only family to be displeased in regards to the Malfoy's being able to avoid Azkaban so easily. It was perhaps fortunate that so few people knew where Harry was living now, if they had known or had any inkling where he was staying then he would have received a lot more in the way of hate mail. All of it from disgruntled witches and wizards who were less than pleased about the most recent news story. Most of them were easily recognized as howlers but Harry swiftly burnt the lot, he knew better than to open any type of hate or fan mail. He had more important things occupying his mind.

Draco on the other hand, who had remained at his Welsh castle, grieving for the loss of Harry, hoping that he would be back before nightfall, had not been so thoughtful and foresighted as to simply burn the letters like Harry had. He hadn't expected to be sent anything hateful at all as he had not seen the papers that morning. He had no desire to read them and see the slanderous comments being printed about him and his family. He knew he had done wrong but the press always blew it out of proportion. He didn't have time for such nonsense. He had given up reading the Prophet after the fourth year when they had become obsessed with Harry Potter's entrance into the tri-wizard tournament.

It was his own bad luck that the first letter he had opened was filled with an odourless yellow powder that caused his skin to blister and boil the second it had come into contact with him. He had hissed at the sudden pain it caused, summoning his favourite house elf, Links, who swiftly came to tend to the sores the powder had created. He had been unwilling to burn everything even after this unfortunate incident however, just in case there was something from Harry.

He immediately destroyed the letters he knew for certain to be howlers. He carefully weeded out those from foreign countries, destroying them too. Links remained with him as he opened the last few. The loyal house elf had offered to do it for him but Draco had refused, he needed to know if Harry had sent him a letter. When he discovered that none were from his lover he discarded the hateful letters without reading them. Even at a brief glance he had seen they contained more profanities than not. He didn't want to know what people thought about him, he already knew that he was an awful person.

There had been nothing from Harry. This fact rang through his head. He wasn't even sure why he thought there might have been after he had taken him back to the Dursley's house only that morning. It had been a foolish hope to hear from him so soon but he had had that hope none the less. Perhaps he was a complete and utter fool but if he was then he was a fool in love.

He lay himself upon their bed, inhaling Harry's deep, musky scent that lingered on the sheets, he snuggled into them, inconsolable and in pain. He missed him, his broken and yet still perfect Harry who had left him when his friends had called for him. The only reassurance Draco had that Harry would ever return to him was a simple promise, sealed with a kiss and his backpack of prized possessions.

Harry hadn't dared to return to the Burrow so soon after Ron and he had argued over Draco and the court case against him. He couldn't face Ron yet or any of the Weasley's for that matter because he knew that his actions had hurt them all deeply. Instead after his talk to Hermione he had gone back to Grimmauld place. He needed to have time and space to think. The pain in his chest had not ebbed or faded, it felt as if he were missing a limb or another vital part of his body that he couldn't live without.

It was now late afternoon and Kreacher had been asked to intercept all his mail and destroy anything meant to cause harm. He hadn't even been separated from Draco for a whole day and he already felt awful. There were no feelings to describe the hollow emptiness in his chest.

Harry had taken up refuge in the smallest living room in the black family home, laying down on one of the old brown leather sofas, gazing up at the peeling, cracked ceiling, the mobile phone that was identical to Draco's being turned over and over in his fingers as his mind buzzed with thought. There was only one person occupying his thoughts as he wondered if leaving him had been the right thing to do.

He could forgive Draco, he already had, he had forgiven him the night that they had joined hands and left Hogwarts together. You jump, I jump had been what they had said and he had meant it. Those four words had been an unspoken agreement between them that they would tackle all the difficult circumstances together and Harry had been the one to back out and break that bond. If he had had any doubt when it came to trusting Draco then he would never have left with him.

They had both played a role in the war that they hadn't wanted to, one that was forced on to them. They had understood that about one another. There was a lot that they now understood about each other, things that hadn't been shared with anyone before they had had each other. Harry couldn't forget that nor could he forget the secrets that they had divulged to each other and the personal experiences that they had shared.

Neither of them had wanted their lives to take the path that they had but they hadn't had a choice. It had been what was expected of Harry after he had defeated the Dark Lord as a baby and fame had been forcefully thrust upon him. In Draco's case he had been coerced through the fear of what Voldemort might do to his family if he refused to do his bidding.

Harry thought of four year old Cassie, murdered to keep the older Malfoy's in line. Everything that they had done had been to Draco, to keep him alive and safe. Despite the uproar over his actions and the clear hostility against him now Harry knew that he had done the right thing. He didn't care what the rest of the wizarding thought of him, he never really had. That fact wasn't going to change now. He would even happily go and work at the ministry as a Auror or Hit wizard, whatever they wanted for however long they wanted him so long as Draco was safe from the clutches of Azkaban.

He may not have cared about the rest of the wizarding world but he did care about the Weasley's and Hermione and what they thought. They were his family, his only family. Molly had been such a mother figure to him that he hated the idea of hurting her when he didn't have to. He needed them all in his life just as much as he was realising that he needed Draco. He had to find a way to make them understand. He needed to find a way where he could be happy, where he could be with Draco in every way that he wanted to be while also keeping his family together and not hating him for the choice he made to be with Draco.

Flipping open his phone, Harry sent a quick text message to his lover and the Gryffindor could only hope that the blonde would remember how to read it after they had spent up to an hour going over how to use the phone together. Harry needed this small connection. He couldn't see him, not without his mind and body being taken over with lust and desire. He couldn't even trust himself to even speak to him via the phone or the floo out of fear that it would make his weak resolve not to go to him crumble. He thought that hearing the soft drawling voice would make him apperate straight to him just so that he could hold him in his arms. A text message was going to have to suffice.

Draco was startled when the mobile phone that he had stuffed in his jean pocket started to beep and vibrate at him. His heart leapt into his throat. Harry. It had to be, no one else would have the number. He flicked it open, his heart hammering painfully in his chest as he clicked the button Harry had told him opened his message inbox. He felt proud of himself that he had remembered at all.

'I still love you,' The message had read and it brought out a strangled cry from Draco's unwilling throat as tears flowed down his cheeks, dripping on to the bed sheets. He curled into himself, clutching the phone to his chest and wishing that Harry were with him. The heaving sobs now wracking his body that the short four word message had given him had come with one other feeling. Hope. There was hope that this nightmare might soon end and that they would be together again. It hadn't even been a day but Harry still loved him. That hadn't changed and that gave him infinite hope.

Draco knew that he didn't deserve Harry, not after everything that had transpired between them and all the things that he had done. He owed Harry too much and could offer him nothing in return. Draco may have been handsome and filthy rich but so was Harry. All he had to offer was his love and even that seemed to be entirely fucked up. He worried to distraction that what he felt just wouldn't be enough but he had nothing more to give. It scared him that loving Harry alone wouldn't be enough to keep him by his side, he had to get his friends to at least like him and trust him but he had no idea how he was going to go about doing this.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty One

Harry hadn't slept well that night. In fact he had barely slept at all and when he had his dreams had turned into nightmares. If he was ever going to get a clear head to think things through then he was going to need a good night's sleep. The only way he was going to achieve that was with a dreamless sleep potion and he was the first to admit that he wasn't the best at potions but this one seemed very simple.

He did however have to brave a trip to Diagon Alley and the apothecary there so he could purchase the ingredients he needed to brew it. After being punched in the face the previous day by Katie Bell's father and the Daily Prophet spewing their usual bile about him on a Daily basis he didn't really want to go. However another night of fitful, terror filled sleep was not an option. If he couldn't sleep with Draco in his arms then a dreamless sleep potion was the next best thing.

He was feeling a little hurt when his text message to the Slytherin the day before had gone unanswered. He knew that he was being unfair to Draco, upping and leaving him was potentially the cruellest thing he had ever done to anyone that he had genuinely cared for. He didn't blame him if he was angry at him but he wished that he would respond. Harry missed him.

He felt the need to cover up so he put on some simple black robes over his jeans and a t-shirt. The cloak wasn't going to do much in the way of concealing his identity but he couldn't very well go walking about Diagon alley in his invisibility cloak, which he had left behind with Draco anyway.

He pulled his robes tightly around himself and added a cloak over the top, bringing the hood up over his messy raven hair. If he kept his head down and didn't speak to anyone then he might just make it back without being punched again, one could only hope. With his wand stowed in his inner cloak wand pocket and the mobile phone in his jeans he knew that it was now or never. If he didn't leave then he was going to chicken out about going and then he would be facing another difficult night of restless sleep filled with horror, bloodshed and screaming.

He apperated, hoping to get in and out as quickly as possible, landing haphazardly in the middle of the cobbled street. He hated doing it but it truly was the quickest way. It wasn't too busy as it was early still but there were enough people around to notice who he was. Keeping his eyes low and avoiding people as best he could he made a beeline for the apothecary. Up ahead he could see Fred and George's joke shop, which he supposed only belonged to George now. At that thought his heart gave off a pang of guilt at Fred's death.

He had seen the body of the red headed twin bloodied and mangled in his dreams the night before. Remembering how messed up he had been, viciously torn to pieces and it made him feel physically sick. He just wanted to go home … but then he realised that he didn't have a home, not really. Grimmauld place was just a building, filled with memories, good and bad, he didn't consider it home. Hogwarts too would never feel like a safe and loving home again, not after all the death and carnage.

To Harry home was somewhere he felt safe, loved and wanted to be. The only place he wanted to be in that moment was with Draco and he didn't care where they were as long as they were together. His yearning for the blonde was like nothing he had ever felt. Not even in his first year at the school for witchcraft and wizardry when he had become addicted to visiting the mirror of Erised and seeing his family reflected in front of him. It had been a strong force that had kept him going back there every night until Dumbledore had stopped him, the yearning for Draco was so much stronger than that.

However thinking of the mirror made him think of Dumbledore, the man who he had considered a mentor and strangely even a father figure. It was yet another person whom he had lost over the course of a war. He may have lived a long and full life but he was still dead before his time. Harry remembered vividly that night on the astronomy tower. He would never forget it. How Draco had disarmed the elderly man, how he couldn't bring himself to kill him and yet how Severus had. To save Draco, to keep him safe. Just like his parents had done, not wanting to lose him like they had lost Cassie.

Harry entered the potions shop trying to keep his cool as he dodged around shelves of odd looking ingredients, the smell of brewing potions hitting him full force and he couldn't help but be reminded of Severus Snape, whom he had been thinking about only moments ago when he had recalled the night Dumbledore had died.

His outward sneer and cold exterior had been a front for pain and heartache. He had loved someone who could never love him back. His own mother had fallen in love with another man when her lifelong friend had loved her all along. Harry didn't want to end up like that, he didn't want to be old, alone and bitter having let the love of his life slip away because he had made the wrong decision and just walked away from the best thing in his life.

Breaking form his thoughts Harry showed the shop assistant, who openly gawped at him, the list of ingredients he needed. It took longer than he thought it necessary to gather them together. Any longer and it would have been pushing Harry's patience to the limit. He wanted to go home and brew the potion so that he could get some sleep. He didn't want to be here, this place was bringing back too many memories, bringing too many thoughts to the forefront of his mind.

Even as he paid for his items he couldn't help but think of how many similarities there were between the hatred Ron and Draco had for one another as the hatred that Severus and James had had. His father and Snape had both loved the same woman. Even though his relationship with Ron was hugely different, he still felt as if he were stuck in the middle between them. He hated the arguments that this was causing, he wanted a way to fix them.

Leaving the apothecary, his items clutched in a bag at his chest, lost in his thoughts about how he was even going to begin fixing things in his life, convincing Ron to at least consider giving Draco a chance and also making it up to Draco whom he had just walked out on, he barrelled into someone. He had been so wrapped up in his musings, content to keep his head down and get to one of the designated apparating zones that he had run into a very solid body who was not reacting well to being knocked into.

Looking up, trying to act apologetic as it had been his fault he saw an angry looking Ron glaring at him. His brother George, looking lost with red eyes puffy from crying, standing before him. Harry looked between the two red heads in shock, not knowing what to say but feeling very wary of the angry look in his best friend's eyes that meant he was close to losing his temper.

HPDM

Draco felt so ashamed of himself. He had cried himself to sleep last night, the mobile phone clutched to his chest. He felt awful for it and when he saw himself in the mirror he groaned, he looked awful too. His eyes were red and swollen, he had bags under them too. He hated himself for looking so broken up. They had only been a part for a single day. He needed to pull himself together and quickly.

Running the cold water and splashing it across his face before leaning over the basin and taking a few deep steadying breathe. If he knew where Harry was then he might have gone to him then and there but he was terrified of rejection. He wasn't sure if he would be able to take it. Maybe it was just safer not knowing where he was for the moment. He would give Harry another day and then he would go in search of answers. He couldn't live in this limbo forever, not knowing what was going on or if he and Harry were together or not. Another day just to give him the time and space he needed and then he would go looking.

He grimaced when he saw an owl come swooping in to him carrying a rather large packet of letters, over half of which looked as if they were howlers. Today was going to be a very long day. Again he summoned Links to him, he was going to need his help if he was going to survive the onslaught of hatred without getting any injuries this time as well.

HPDM

Ron Weasley was not happy. He had spent the better part of two hours in his brothers joke shop consoling George who had taken to sleeping there rather than in the family home. He was still struggling with the death of his twin and Ron had wanted to help in any way that he could, including keeping the joke shop running.

Having been up all night thinking about Hermione and their seemingly non-existent relationship, then dealing with George's complete break down the last thing he had wanted was for Harry bloody Potter to run directly into him. Just seeing him had made him so angry, he was the reason that he and Hermione were no longer together, he was the reason that the sodding Malfoy's had escaped Azkaban. What if it had been one of them that had killed Fred? Ron saw red, he drew his fist back and sent it directly at Harry's face without saying a word.

Not expecting the blow Harry reeled back, falling to the ground. He knew that his nose wasn't broken but it was bleeding, he could feel the hot wet liquid trickling down towards his mouth. He sat on the ground where he had landed in shock, completely immobilised over what had just happened. Ron had hit him and apparently he wasn't done yet. Before George could stop him he'd pounced, fists flying and Harry had no choice but to defend himself. He wasn't about to lie back and let Ron beat seven shades of shit out of him.

Clenching his fists together Harry roared in a mixture of pain and anger, no matter what he had done he didn't deserved his. His instincts overrode any common sense he had. His brain was telling him that Ron was bigger than he was and had more brute force on his side but none of that matter as fists rained down on each other, trying to connect with any skin that they could find. Harry suddenly glad that he had word so many layers as each blow of Ron's that connected was partly absorbed by the amount of fabric that he wore.

Never the less Ron managed to land a jab to his side and he felt something crack. Fuming in rage, Harry slammed his head forward as hard and as fast as he could, his forehead connecting with Ron's nose with a sickening crunch as more blood was spilt. The red head stumbled back, clutching his nose screeching in pain. Harry took his opportunity and lunched at his former friend, tackling him to the ground and landing a few choice blows with his fists.

It didn't take long for Ron to recover however, just like a girl grabbing a fist full of raven hair and pulling. Harry growled furiously, if Ron wanted to play dirty and fight like a girl then he could too, he raked his nails down Ron's face which only made the red head angrier.

Soon Harry lost count of the number of blows he had taken. He had tried to give as good as he had got but Ron's hits were harder and faster, thrown with the power of someone who had grown up with six brothers. Dimly Harry remembered how viciously he had been bullied by Dudley and his gang for years as a child. At that he just gave up, he was tired, every part of him hurt but no more than his chest, which still ached for Draco.

"Bloody arsehole, fucking stay down," Ron hissed at him as Harry gasped for breath on the cobbled street of Diagon Alley. They had drawn quite the crowd, no one thinking to stop them. Not even George had got in between them as they had fought it out. But now, even though swollen, bruised eyes, Harry could see that the only surviving twin had given his youngest brother a clip round the ear.

"St Mungos, both of you," He said as he went to help Harry up so he could apperate both of the injured wizards out of sight of the blood thirsty crowd and to the safety of the hospital.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty Two

St Mungos emergency department had been inundated with patients. Due to the media attention that had flocked to the hospital upon learning that the boy-who-lived-twice was there. Ron and Harry had been put in a room together and told that while they were there no harm could be done to each other, accidental or purposeful so there was no use in even trying. In fact this was the case throughout the entire hospital. They had no chance of continuing their fight here. The healer, irritated by their sudden appearance and own stupidity for brawling in the street was in no rush to heal them and relieve them of their pain.

The healer left them alone for over an hour as he had other more serious cases to tend to first, George too was in no mood to deal with either of them and had gone home to fetch his mother and tell her what had happened. This left Harry and Ron very much alone in a magically protected room in St Mungos with nothing to say to one another. Silence had descended upon them for what felt like an age. Harry felt utterly humiliated and beaten, he couldn't even bring himself to look at Ron as he lay gingerly on the bed, winching in pain at the cracked ribs.

"I'm still mad at you," Ron said into the silence, Harry hadn't been expecting him to talk at all and had had his eyes closed against the glare of the florescent lights above him. He thought that he could feign sleep, pretend not to have heard him. He didn't want to make things any worse with Ron but then again if they didn't talk about it then they would never be able to fix it either.

Sighing Harry carefully sat himself up to look at his former best friend who wasn't looking too hot either, though he knew that he was bound to look a whole lot worse. Ron had a lot more brawn to him than Harry giving him the edge that he would never have in a physical fight. "I know," Harry responded, "I don't blame you for being angry."

"You don't?" Ron asked looking confused.

"No, you have your reasons. You've lost a lot and the deatheaters are responsible for that and I helped two of them go free."

"Why did you do it?" Ron asked and Harry could clearly see that if the room wasn't magically warded to prevent people attacking each other then the two of them might have ended up in a worse state then they were already in. He counted this as a blessing as he wasn't sure he could take another hit.

"The past few days that I've been with Draco, he's shown me so many things, we shared a lot. There was a lot more to it than what we saw as children, I've seen proof that the Malfoy's were coerced into serving Voldemort. I know that they did a lot of bad things but Narcissa saved me in that forest, she risked her own life, gambling with that of her families and she sided with me to save me."

"I want to know how they were coerced!" Ron demanded from him, Harry could hear from his tone of voice that he still wasn't sure about what Harry was telling him. He wasn't ready to forgive the slimy git, Ron doubted that he ever would be, not even for his best friend. He even had the overwhelming urge to punch and kick Harry repeatedly for even thinking that the narcissistic, stuck up, pure-blooded Draco Malfoy could ever be trusted.

"Draco wasn't an only child. He had an older sister, she was killed shortly before Voldemort tried to kill me and destroyed himself doing it. It wasn't reported at all, everyone was too focused on me and the fact that he was gone. Very few people knew about her."

"How do you know Malfoy didn't make all of this up to trick you?" Ron snarled, Harry just sighed lying back down on his bed, the pain in his side excruciating.

"He took me to the grave yard, I saw her headstone. I believe him because I heard him when he told me about it, about her, the hurt and the pain in his voice, you can't fake that." After a pause Harry then added, "I know you're mad at Hermione for helping me too but she had her reasons, do you think that even if you can't forgive me could you at least forgive her? I know she misses you."

"Do you regret what you did, do you regret saving him?"

"No," Harry responded at once, "Neither of them killed anyone. Lucius did and he'll stand trial, I won't save him from Azkaban, he deserves to be in there. He was cruel and even though it was the death of his daughter that brought him into the fold he didn't hate being there, he relished it despite his fear. Narcissa and Draco followed him out of fear, they didn't want anything to do with him."

"I'll think about it," Ron said and Harry looked over at him confused, "About Hermione," He clarified and Harry nodded, closing his eyes once more. He doubted that things would ever go back to normal with Ron but he at least could hope that they wouldn't try and kill each other every time they ran into each other. "Do you love him?" Ron asked suddenly.

Harry didn't even hesitate before he answered. "Yes," He said but didn't get a chance to say anything else before a rather irrate Molly Weasley bustled in looking very red faced, glaring between the two of them in a very uncharacteristic way. Very clearly she wasn't very happy with either of them.

"Fighting in Diagon Alley, what on earth were the two of you thinking?" She shouted at them, neither of the young men replied, they knew better than to interrupt Molly Weasley when she was shouting at them. "The two of you went gallivanting around the country on the run for a whole year, helped destroy he-who-must-not-be-named and then you start punching each other in the middle of a public place! How could you be so childishly stupid? I expected better from the both of you!"

"Sorry mum," Ron said sheepishly, going red in the face.

"Sorry Molly," Harry said, sounding equally as embarrassed, he wasn't childish enough to point out that Ron had thrown the first punch, no matter how much gratification he would get from doing so. He wanted to fix things with Ron not make things worse.

"I should think so!" She said in a huff, "I hope you have apologised to one another," both Harry and Ron turned to each other and mumbled apologies at one another. "Now, what was all this about and I want the truth?" There was a tone of warning in her voice as she spoke, glaring at both of the boys whom she considered to be her sons.

"I testified in defence of Narcissa and Draco Malfoy so they didn't go to Azkaban," Harry said when Ron remained very quiet, his arms crossed over his chest refusing to speak. He had remained sat up in his bed, glaring hatefully at the wall. Harry remained on his back ,trying not to move as even breathing seemed to hurt. He couldn't wait for the healer to come and fix them so he could leave. All he wanted to do was hit a pub, start drinking and not stop until his sorrows were well and truly drowned.

"So I heard, why did that cause a fight between the two of you?" Ron looked to his mother in shock, an undignified look on his face as he spluttered his shock that she didn't believe that he was justified in his actions.

"They're deatheaters mum!" Ron said in outrage, "And he dragged Hermione into helping him too!"

Molly held Harry's eyes for a long time before speaking, "I've come to learn why Harry did what he did, Arthur was told what happened during the trial. I can understand that Narcissa Malfoy was scared for her child, I don't believe that there was a parent who wasn't in either war. I lost my brothers in the first war and a son in the second, I know what it's like to lose the ones you love. However it isn't okay to let innocent people get hurt because you are afraid. It wouldn't have been forgiven if Arthur and I turned you over to Voldemort because we were scared for our children. Being scared of anything, even him, isn't an excuse to do evil." As she had spoken her gaze had never left Harry's.

His stomach had lurched as the truth of her words washed over him. If the Weasley's had acted like the Malfoy's then he would have been dead long before he had a chance to defeat Voldemort and the Dark Lord would have been able to take over and rule Britain. His confusion must have been evident because Molly reached out to him and pulled him into her wordlessly cradling him in her arms. Despite the physical pain from her actions he felt himself relax into the embrace of the only mother he had ever known.

A few moments passed before Molly released him and sighed, looking at him with sympathy in her kind eyes. "Forgiveness is a fine thing Harry, if you want to forgive them then that is entirely up to you but you can't expect for everyone else to do it or even want to try. The only difference I can see between Lucius and Draco is that Lucius was successful at murdering those he set out to and causing maliciously intended damage whereas Draco was simply incompetent at it. The reasoning behind why they did what they did is meaningless to their victims but I imagine you are finding that out the hard way after the article in the Daily Prophet." Molly stopped and sighed, running one hand over Harry's head of messy raven hair that would never lie flat no matter what was done with it. "You're a good boy Harry and we'll love you no matter what."

Harry simply nodded at her gratefully, however before he could speak she had turned a grim eye on her youngest biological son, glaring at him. "As for you, you can be angry all you like and I won't tell you that you're wrong for feeling that way but I won't have you brawling with one of your brothers in the middle of the street like a hooligan. The two of you have been friends for a long time, too long to let the Malfoy family come between you, so sort it out." When Ron looked as if he might argue Molly shook her finger in his face. "I didn't say you had to like them or even have anything to do with them. I certainly don't intend to either but you'll let your best friend live his life like he wants to, even if you don't agree. I don't suspect that Harry will force you to get along with them or even spend time with them, will you Harry?"

Harry shook his head, "No," He answered.

"Good, now you two get taken care of, I imagine the healer will be back in a moment to take care of your injuries. I'll wait for you outside Ronald."

With a hug and a kiss to the top of the head for each boy she casually left to take a seat in the waiting room to wait for Ron to be finished. However before she left them to be healed in private she turned to Harry with a sigh and said, "Harry, the wards on the Burrow would be particularly harmful to anyone with the Dark Mark, I just thought you should know." And with that she was gone, her final message sinking in that Draco Malfoy would never be welcome in their home, even if they could accept that Harry loved him, they would never accept him into their family as one of them.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty Three

Ron and Harry were discharged once they were full healed and back up to full health again. Molly left with Ron, dragging him by the scruff of the neck. Harry immediately sent his patronus directly to Hermione. He wanted to drink and to forget. The one pain the healer couldn't take away was the pain in his heart that still throbbed painfully with every beat that kept him alive.

He had shed his robes at the hospital and he found that his shirt and jeans were not too torn up or dirty so he didn't even have to go home to change to look respectable. He had enough galleons in his pocket that he could drink for a week solid and not worry. It would certainly suffice for him and Hermione tonight.

Hermione joined him almost instantly in the Leaky Cauldron, together taking up two stools at the bar so they wouldn't have to move again to get to the alcohol which was sorely needed for both of them. The first two shots of fire whiskey they both downed in a single gulp neither of them saying a word. Harry was the one to speak first, breaking the silence but only after the second shot.

"Ron put me in St Mungos today," He said, "But I put him there too," He added so that she would know that it wasn't entirely Ron's fault, he didn't want make things worse between the two of them. "I think he's at home being ripped a new one by his mum."

Hermione laughed, "Are you okay though?" She asked, clearly the thought of Ron having a telling off by his mother amused her.

"Yes and so is he," Harry replied as he ordered another two shots before changing his mind and asking for the entire bottle, giving the bartender ten galleons and said that he had plenty more and to keep the bottles coming.

This was how Hermione and Harry had come to be sat at the bar talking about things that neither of them wanted to hear from the other, their sex lives, which until this evening had been unchartered territory between them.

Of course Harry had very little to talk about, he had only ever had sex the once and that had been with Draco. He had divulged to her in his drunken and emotional state how magical it had been, how beautiful and how perfect. It had been everything that he had wanted it to be and Harry had then started to cry because he missed Draco so much that he just couldn't form those feelings into words.

Hermione had of course tried to comfort her sobbing friend and failed miserably in doing so because not even her brilliant mind could function after several bottles of fire whiskey. However it had been Harry's heart felt and painful revelation that had spurred Hermione on to share more that Harry had ever wanted to know about her relationship with Ron. Hearing her talk made him glad that he was gay. It had started with small stuff, the first time they'd had sex but it had steadily progressed, getting worse the drunker she became. Harry easily matched the amount of fire whiskey that she took in if for no other reason than to cope with the onslaught of information being thrown at him that he didn't want to hear.

"You know I once dressed up in this sex kitten outfit for him, with the ears and everything … he put a collar on too, it was so kinky and he got off on it so much. I love that about him Harry, we can fulfil each other's fantasies. I told him about this fantasy I had about being swooped of my feet by Tarzan and being ravished by him. So he went out and bought this Tarzan themed mankini and oh merlin the sex was amazing!"

Harry had found out the hard way that when drunk Hermione had a tendency to over share. It was very hard for Harry to get the mental image of Ron Weasley in a leopard print mankini out of his head, almost as difficult as getting the image of Hermione in a sex kitten outfit complete with collar. They were two images that would be branded into his mind for a very long time to come.

He downed the last dregs from the bottle of fire whiskey in his hand and then proceeded to order another but the bartender shook his head. "We're all out," He said in a gruff voice. They had drunk the place dry of the potent drink.

Harry drunkenly motioned for the young server to come forward with a beckoning finger, wearily the wizard behind the bar did so. He was clearly used to overly drunk wizards and Harry's behaviour was not unnatural to him.

"Between you and me, I am listening to one of my best friends talk about her sex life with another of my best friends. There have been mentions of mankinis and rampant rabbits among many other things I won't scare you with, please, for the love of merlin, give me more alcohol." Harry pleaded with him and the bartender looked at him sympathetically and nodded, bringing each of them a beer.

"The things he can do with his tongue when chocolate and cream are involved, I love him so much Harry, I don't want him to leave me." She said with a strangled sob as she collapsed her head on the bar. Harry swallowed his entire beer in one swallow before starting on Hermione's, desperate to kill all of his senses in one go. "I want to do something that shows him I still love him." Hermione declared suddenly, sitting up straight, snatching her beer from Harry and finishing it herself.

Harry was a little scared at the look in her eye. He didn't dare question her as he settled their bill and she dragged him away by the hand. He had never seen Diagon Alley so empty before and he had no idea where she was taking him. Everything was closed and neither of them were exactly sound on their feet. He didn't even have the sense to question her as she began to drag him down Knockturn Alley.

"What the…?" Harry tried to ask, his voice in a slur as she barged into a shop that had looked to be closed but had three people already inside, all of whom raised very surprised eyebrows to see Harry Potter and friend extremely drunk, staggering haphazardly into the shop at gone one in the morning looking a little worse for wear and smelling as if they had taken a bath in fire whiskey.

"How can we help?" A young man asked politely. He was covered head to toe in tattoos and had several facial piercings that Harry could see. He was twice their age and absolutely gorgeous with chocolate brown hair and eyes that harry couldn't help but admire.

"I want a tattoo," Hermione declared confidently, "A Jack Russell terrier and I want it …" She thought about this for a moment, considering her options, "On my inner thigh because then Ron will always be between my legs," She declared a little too loudly. Harry couldn't help but start laughing at her antics as she continued. "I want it to wag its tail every time I'm excited too, can you do that?"

The young wizard nodded his head, he could tell that she was going to regret this in the morning but that was not his business, he was here to do a job, not tell them what they should had shouldn't be doing. "And what about you gorgeous?" The tattooist asked, turning to Harry who looked positively horrified at the prospect.

Harry began to shake his head at the idea but Hermione looked at him pleadingly, "Come on Harry, you have to get something done, please, do it for me, I can't be the only one!" She begged and Harry sighed, resigned. He couldn't say no to her, they were having such a good time, their problems momentarily drowned with copious amounts of fire whiskey and for the first time in a few days it felt wonderful.

"Alright …" He said resigned to his fate. He thought about it for a minute but he soon realised that he already knew exactly what he wanted done. "I want a dragon and I want it to breath fire occasionally," He said with determination feeling good about his choice, glad that Hermione had encouraged him to get it done.

"Where do you want it?" The tattooist asked.

Again Harry to think before he came to a decision, "Above my heart," He said placing his hand on his chest, "Because I'll always love him." At his words Hermione looked to him with sadness in her eyes as a realisation hit her.

"You really do love him don't you," She said and Harry nodded somewhat pathetically and she drew him into a hug, holding him close and together they swayed drunkenly.

"Alright then, so who's going first?" The young tattooist asked them, looking between the two trying to judge, if it were possible, who was the drunker of the two.

Hermione ended up going first, Harry of course accompanied her into the private back room as she wiggled her jeans down over her slender hips, completely unabashed by what she was doing in a room with two men trying not to look at her as she partially undressed before sitting on the chair as instructed, her legs splayed wide.

This was a side of Hermione that Harry was sure he never wanted to see ever again. He had to look away, averting his eyes from the black lace panties that she was wearing. The tattooist was either a top class professional or very gay to ignore how close he was to Hermione's underwear and what lay beneath, a thought that absolutely terrified Harry.

"Does it hurt?" Harry asked when she was about halfway done.

"Not as much as when Ron spanks me," She admitted, "It's almost a nice pain," She told him, again divulging far too much information to Harry who was still far too innocent in all things sexual to listen to her divulge all the ins and outs of her kinky role playing in the bedroom.

Finally it was Harry's turn, he shed his shirt as Hermione wiggled back into her jeans, thrilled with the puppy she now had forever drawn onto her skin. He took his position and the tattooist, who clearly was very good at his job started work, wand in hand as it made a wiring sound. Hermione had been right, it stung a little but it was almost a nice short of pain, especially after everything that he had been through and it didn't compare to the pain in his chest at missing Draco.

Harry looked down at his chest when the young tattooist backed off, declaring that he was finished. He instantly loved it, the silvery scales almost seemed to come alive on the French silverback dragon as it arched its neck and breathed out orange flames before reverting to its original positioning and going still. It was perfect, it was his Draco.

"Oh Harry it's beautiful!" Hermione declared happily, clapping her hands. Harry grinned at her thrilled as he went to pick up his shirt but she grabbed it off of him, shaking her head. "Oh no you don't Harry Potter, I can't show mine off but you can with yours and you're going it, it's gorgeous."

Harry didn't have the strength to fight her as they paid up and staggered out of the shop, supporting each other as they zigzagged up the street back towards the leaky cauldron where they were going to have to crash for the night as they were both too far gone to apperate without splinching themselves.

"You know Harry it doesn't bother me that you're gay," Hermione said suddenly sounding very serious, "But if you go after Ron I will kill you." There was no tone of joking in her voice but still Harry couldn't help but laugh.

"I do not feel that way about Ron," Harry said trying to stifle his giggles. "Besides from everything you've told me Ron is very much a dominant male, just like me."

"Are you kidding me?" Hermione asked, her own giggling fit starting. "You can't be serious, you're so girly, you can't be on top."

"I'll have you know I am!" Harry spluttered indignantly before they both practically fell on to the floor laughing hysterically.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty Four

Draco had been up since dawn had broken. He had had the wireless on, listening for any news on Harry. He had no idea where to start looking for him and he had thought that this best bet was to see if the media had sighted him at all. Draco's logic was that even if he was several steps behind Harry he could perhaps work out where he was going.

That was when the news had broken. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had been seen brawling in Diagon Alley. Draco almost couldn't breath as the report went on to say that both of them had been taken to St Mungos for medical treatment after the famous boy wizard was defeated in the muggle duelling. He only felt himself breath in a sigh of relief when the report went on to say that both had been released after being fully healed.

It was what Draco heard next that made him doubly miserable than he had been feeling since Harry had left him. Harry Potter was reported to have been drowning his sorrows with copious amounts of Fire Whiskey in the Leaky Cauldron in London with best friend Hermione Granger. He hated the idea that Harry was having to drown his sorrows at all, he just wanted to wrap his arms around him and hold him.

Figuring that he would have been too far to apperate Harry had to still be close by to Diagon Alley, if not staying at the Leaky Cauldron. If it was meant to be then he would find him, he had to hold that belief. He yearned for Harry, he needed to be with him. He didn't care what it took, he was going to go and find him.

Grabbing a fist full of floo powder he through it in the fireplace, watching as the brilliantly emerald flames erupted violently in the grate. Throwing himself into them he yelled his destination and was off.

HPDM

Ron had agreed to open and run George's joke shop for the day as a form of apology after how he had acted the previous day. His brother was still not coping well with his twin's death and he hadn't needed Ron fist fighting in front of him to make it any worse. It was at least he could do to make it up to him. It also got Ron out of the Burrow. He was still very much in the dog house when it came to his mother, especially since the news of the fight had been broadcast all over the wireless and would no doubt be in the Prophet this morning too. Ron had been all too happy to escape the confines of his family home for a few hours and do something productive.

He hadn't expected for halfway through his morning to see a mob of rather angry looking witches and wizards screaming and shouting. Seemingly all of their rage focusing on one person and that was when he saw the shock of white blonde hair in the centre of the rabble. Even through the windows of the joke shop he could clearly see that Draco Malfoy was the reason the witches and wizards had formed the mob, their rage focused solely on him.

Ron hesitated, he knew that if he didn't do anything then they would likely kill him, whether it be an accident or not. It would have solved all of their problems but he couldn't do that to Harry. He may not have liked the smarmy bloke but he wasn't cold hearted enough to wish anyone dead, not even Draco Malfoy. A life sentence in Azkaban sure but not dead. Taking a deep breath and trying not to think about what he was about to do he ran out of the shop to intervene.

Pulling at the cloaks of the offending witches and wizards to get to the already bleeding Draco Malfoy who had curled up on himself in an attempt to protect himself from the enraged mob that had accosted him. There was no doubt in either Ron or Draco's mind that this crowds ultimate goal had been to kill him.

The crowds seem to part in shock when they saw who it was intervening with their righteous anger. Ron Weasley was a nationally known war hero for the part he played in defeating Voldemort, just like Hermione was too. People knew who he was and they respected him for what he had done for them in the war. Even harry Potter had admitted that Voldemort would not have fallen without the help of his two best friends.

Reaching the middle, where Draco cowered, his entire body trembling, he began pushing people back, shouting. "I get it, nobody hates this little bastard more than me but you can't just go around beating people to death because of what they've done! Besides if you kill the twat then Harry will be upset and Merlin knows that he's cried enough already. You don't know how miserable it is to watch an orphan cry when everyone he cares about dies!" Ron yelled aggressively, "Now just buggar off the lot of you."

The crowd, somewhat begrudgingly, began to disperse, muttering to themselves with resounding disappointment. The adrenaline pumping through Ron's body, the blood thundering in his ears all began to ease as he saw that the danger was passing. He then turned to the blonde and shook his head, hardly believing what he had just done.

"Fuck," Ron groaned, "Now I have to do something with you Malfoy," He said dragging him into the joke shop by the scruff of his neck, throwing him down upon a chair behind the counter so he could see how badly injured he was.

The crowd it seemed had been too condensed to really do much damage, all of them too intent on killing him to allow anyone else to get close enough to actually do it. They were more likely to have trampled him more than intentionally murdered him. Aside from one gash to the top of his left eyebrow that shone with fresh blood he seemed perfectly alright, if not a little shaken.

"Thank you," Draco said humbly, his eyes on the floor, not daring to look up and meet Ron's eyes. He knew that Ron and Harry had physically fought the day before and there could be no other reason other than him, not when they had been such close friends before.

"Why are you even here Malfoy, do you have a death wish?" Ron snarled.

"I was looking for Harry … I wanted to see him … I missed him." Draco knew that his best chance at surviving Ron's wrath now that he was out of the mobs range was to be honest, to be humble and to grovel. He wasn't too high and mighty to grovel, not anymore.

"Well if you believe the news reports and I guess you do, Harry and Hermione were drinking pretty heavily last night," Ron said glaring down at Malfoy, nothing but abhorrence for him in the hateful stare.

"Do you know where he is?" Draco asked desperately.

"I might have a general idea, but they'll both be sleeping off the after effects of their alcohol intake. It isn't the first time the two of them went off drinking together." Ron admitted still not relaxing his guard.

"Please tell me, I have to see him!" Draco begged, he didn't care how much he humiliated himself, he needed Harry. He would continue to degrade himself by pleading with the red head, no matter how long it took.

"Why should I tell you anything?" Ron sneered in absolute disgust. "Harry is better off without you, you're poison Malfoy, I really don't understand what Harry sees in you. I think you're just using him to save your own skin and that you'll discard him a few weeks down the line when you're sure you won't end up in Azkaban."

"No … I would never, I'd do anything … anything for him," Draco said in a panic. He knew that that had to be what everyone was thinking but it wasn't like that, what they had shared meant more to him than his own life. This was why when the angry mob of witches and wizards had started attacking him he had done nothing to defend himself other than curl up and embrace the pain, feeling as if he deserved it.

"Then prove it!" Ron snarled dangerously.

"How?" Draco asked desperately. Ron meant a lot to Harry, he knew this and didn't want to come between them. He knew his best bet of securing his relationship with Harry was to go through Ron and he knew that it wasn't going to be easy.

"Get creative, think of a way or leave because you clearly don't give a shit about Harry!" Ron demanded heatedly, almost shouting now. He wasn't about to let Draco Malfoy anywhere near his best friend or his girlfriend unless he could prove that he wasn't being a complete bastard and using Harry for his own personal gain.

"I'll make the unbreakable vow," Draco said as the anxiety mounted, stretching out his hand to Ron, all prepared to do it, to make the vow and put his life on the line to prove that he did indeed love Harry and wasn't using him like Ron thought, "I'll make the unbreakable vow that I'll never knowingly hurt or endanger Harry."

"Seriously?" Ron asked a little taken aback by this sudden proposal. He wasn't sure what it was that he had expected from Malfoy but the unbreakable vow had not been high on his list of expectations.

"Yes, I'll make the vow and that way I'll be dead if I break it, it's the only way I can think to prove to you that I'm not using Harry, I love him. I can't live without him. I have to see him. If this is the only way to prove it to you then I'll do it."

"How is it done?" Ron asked as he had never had the need for it previously, he'd only ever heard about it, mainly because Snape had made one to protect Draco. He did vaguely remember that his twin brothers had tried to make him make one when he was five before his father interrupted them but that had been years ago.

"We need a third person, a bonder. The bonders wand needs to be touching our joined hands as the oath is made. Each clause of the vow is agreed and then the vow is sealed as a flame joins the hands of the participants." Draco sounded tired and forlorn as he explained, he had read about them after learning what Severus had done with his mother, the vow that they had made to protect him. He knew the cost of what it entailed, especially if he ever broke it but then if he did then he wouldn't want to live anymore if he ever knowingly hurt or endangered Harry.

"I'm not going to make you do it," Ron said after a moment of hesitation where he actually considered finding a third person, a bonder to solidify the bond. "I swear to Merlin if you ever make me regret it I'll kill you myself," Ron threatened, his tone deadly serious.

"You'll tell me where he is?" Draco asked breathlessly, unable to believe that Ron wasn't about to force him to make the bond when he would have willingly done it to prove himself. He would have done anything.

"I still don't like you Malfoy but I know how much Harry likes you. My mother would kill me if I stopped Harry living the way he wanted to live so yes I'll take you to where I think they are but we'll need to pick up some hang over potions for them as they won't be happy to see us otherwise."

Ron knew the drill, this was the second time that the two of them had gone off to get drunk together. Harry and Hermione were like siblings to one another and sometimes it was the best way to cope with the stress in their lives. He just hoped that she hadn't done anything stupid, the last time she'd almost broken her ankle. He loved her so much, there was no way that he would ever be without her. It was time they made up from their arguments.

"There is one more thing Malfoy, before we go," Ron said as they had stood up to leave. Draco looked at Ron's angry face in terror feeling very much a coward. "If I hear the word mudblood out of your mouth again I swear you'll regret it and I don't care what Harry thinks!" He warned viciously.

"I wouldn't … not since … after my Aunt … on Gra- Hermione … that was when I knew, it didn't matter about blood status. I would give it all up to take back what my Aunt did to her. I lost faith in everything my parents had instilled in me that night."

"And if any deatheather friends of yours, former or otherwise turn up or contact you at all then you have to turn them over to the Auror's, understand?" Draco nodded in agreement, fearful of the red heads temper.

Seemingly satisfied with the answer that Draco had given the two of them, not quite friends but not quite enemies either made their way uncomfortably to the potion shop to buy what they needed for Harry and Hermione who were likely not to welcome intrusions as they nursed their hangover headaches.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty Five

There was an awkwardness between Ron and Draco as they walked together towards the Leaky Cauldron. Neither knew what to say to one another. Draco felt useless, hated and utterly unwanted. He just wanted to see a friendly face, someone who did want him. Ron on the other hand couldn't stand being in the company of such an arrogant git but he knew how much Harry cared for him. He was hoping that this went part way to apologising for throwing the first punch the previous day, which he did feel guilty about.

Ron walked confidently up to the bar keeper and didn't even need to explain why he was here. "Second room to the right, first floor," Tom told them and Ron nodded heading up. Draco just kept his head down, not daring to look at anyone for fear of seeing the hateful glares he was receiving which he could feel on him as they moved through the bar towards the stairs.

"How did he know?" Draco asked as they began to climb the stairs, Ron going first as they headed for the right room.

Ron didn't respond, he didn't feel up to talking. He didn't particularly want to divulge that Hermione had been having nightmares about how Bellatrix Lestrange had tortured her in Malfoy Manor. He didn't want to tell Draco that on occasion Hermione would have to drink to relieve the stress and anxiety they gave her. Of course she had got better recently, at least he thought that she had. He was practically kicking himself that his cold shoulder towards her had sent her off into the deep end again.

The red head didn't even bother knocking, he was all too aware that he wasn't going to like what he found inside. Walking into the room he sighed at the sight of his girlfriend, who was thankfully still fully clothed, cuddled up on a double bed with a shirtless Harry. If Ron hadn't known that Harry was gay then this scene might have ended very differently.

Placing the potions on the bedside table he drew the curtains open and let the sunlight flood the room causing the two hung over people grown in protest. Withdrawing his wand Ron sent jets of cold water over the two on the bed, much to Draco's amusement. Both Harry and Hermione leapt out of the path of the freezing jets of water screeching in horror, glaring at the red head as he started laughing at them.

"You're lucky you're gay otherwise I'd kick your arse again for being in bed with my girlfriend," Ron said as he calmed himself down, "Hangover potions are on the table," He added as harry adjusted and realised that Ron had not woken them up alone. He stood looking at Draco, his mouth agape in shock at seeing his lover. He looked between Ron and Draco as if waiting for the red head to realise who was with them and attack. "I'm not going to murder him alright, just drink your damn potion." Ron said when he saw Harry looking between the two of them as if the universe itself was about to cave in around them.

"What the hell is going on?" Harry asked in complete astonishment at seeing the two of them together. It had only been the day before where Ron had been seven shades of shit out of him because he had defended Draco and now they were here together. It was too much for Harry to comprehend when he had such a throbbing headache.

"Ron saved me from a mob of angry witches and wizards that were attacking me," Draco admitted to the room at large, unable to look at Harry, fearful that he would see rejection, that Harry wouldn't want him anymore after all the trouble he had caused for him.

Ron just glared at Malfoy for mentioning him saving his life, he could have gone his whole life without his girlfriend and his best friend knowing that he had saved Malfoy's arse. When Draco finally found a small ounce of courage after a few moments passed where nothing but silence passed between them. "Harry … what is that on your chest?"

Discombobulated Harry looked down at his chest to see what Draco had seen and then the night before came flooding back in a relentless onslaught of memories. He groaned and sank down on the bed, grabbing the potion and downing it in one go. Hermione had already finished hers and had gone a brilliant shade of beetroot red.

"Tell me you didn't Hermione," Ron said as he looked at his girlfriend in absolute horror. He looked between Harry and Hermione who were both sat on the bed side by side, simultaneously shaking their heads in disbelief. They had been so drunk.

"She did," Harry said when she refused to answer.

"What and where?" Ron asked, thinking the worst and dreading what he was about to be told. Hermione seemed unable to respond at all she was so embarrassed so once again it was Harry who answered his questions.

"A jack Russell terrier puppy, on her inner thigh" Harry said and then with a slight grimace he added, "Because she always wanted you between her legs." Ron looked at his girlfriend in astonishment, Hermione buried her head in her hands in shame and Draco tentatively stepped towards the other three so that he could get a better look at the dragon that was currently breathing fire across Harry's chest.

"And you got a dragon?" Draco said, looking at the stunning artwork. "Why?" Now it was Harry's turn to look a little bashful and it was Hermione's turn to humiliate him a little.

"He got a dragon over his heart because he will always love you," She said pointedly. However it didn't exactly have the desired effect, Ron was looking at her as if she were mental but Draco simply collapsed to his knees in front of Harry and lay his head upon his lap, holding him.

"I love you too," He said and Harry put his hands around Draco, sliding on to the floor beside him so that they could hold one another. Ron and Hermione simply looked at the mass of limbs tangled together on the floor in shock, not knowing what to do with themselves.

"Come on Mione, let's go back to the Burrow and leave these two alone, besides I really want to see that tattoo," Ron said as he took Hermione into his arms, cradling her there and disapperated.

Alone the two young men parted a little so that they could look at each other. "I'm so sorry for leaving," Harry said, "I never should have left you like that." Their foreheads came together as they leant against one another, their arms around one another never wanting to let go, noses bumping gently. Their hearts were racing with the anticipation between them, knowing what was coming as tentatively their lips came together.

It was slow at first, unsure but it quickly became more heated, tongues meeting while Draco's hands roamed across Harry's exposed chest, his fingers lingering upon the dragon that seemed to move beneath his touch. The Gryffindor tore at the robes the other man wore, desperate to get to the skin beneath. As the alabaster skin of Draco's nape and shoulders were revealed Harry began to kiss his way down his jaw before biting and sucking at the nape of his neck, determined to mark him, claim him as his own.

"Harry …" Draco gasped as a mix of pleasure and pain washed over him. He knew what he was doing and the blonde found that he didn't mind, he was more than happy to be marked by his lover. Harry had branded himself forever with a dragon that symbolised him. The love bite would fade however but he found himself wishing that it wouldn't. He realised quite suddenly that he wanted something permanent as well.

"Bed," Harry gasped, dragging Draco up off the floor with some difficulty, shedding the blondes robes, discarding them to the floor and leaving them both in trousers only. Landing on the bed with Harry nestled comfortably between Draco's legs as their lips connected. Their kisses were frantic, the days that they had been parted too much for them to talk about, this was the only way to show each other just how much they had missed one another.

Feverish kisses made way to fumbling hands as they struggled to free themselves from the constricting material of their trousers. Draco rolled them over so to get a better access to the button on his jeans. Harry lay on the bed beneath his lover, panting as he watched the button pop open though Draco seemed a little hesitant.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, somewhat fearful of what the answer would be.

Draco sighed and rolled off Harry so that he could lie beside him. "I don't want you to freak out and leave again," He admitted looking into the brilliant green of Harry's eyes. The Gryffindor came forward and kissed Draco sweetly to the lips.

"I'm not going anywhere," He said, "The last few days were hell without you, I don't want to go through with that again. I don't care what people think."

"You don't understand," Draco said quietly as he ran his fingers across the Gryffindor's cheek in a gentle caress, "I felt so used, almost hollow when you left. I don't want to feel that again."

"And you won't, not if I can help it," Harry said to him, looking into the other man's eyes and not braking that contact, "I'm sorry I made you feel that way and I want you to be able to trust me." Harry thought for a brief moment before coming to a decision in his head and he knew that it was the right thing to do. "I want you to make love to me Draco, I want to prove to you that I trust you fully so that maybe you can trust me again too."

Draco looked to Harry in surprise as it dawned on him what he had just suggested. It wasn't something that he had been expecting and it took him a few moments to process it. "Harry ... you know I don't expect … you don't have to." Harry silenced him with a chaste kiss to the lips before pulling away and looking at him with as much truth and love as he had.

"I want to do this," He said, his voice firm and unwavering. Draco could hear the certainty and resolution in his words. There was no fear or hesitation to be found in his tone and Draco knew that he had made up his mind on this matter, there would be no arguing about this.

"I've never …" Draco said and Harry actually smiled at him. He was glad that despite not being Draco's first overall he would at least be his first for something. It swelled the Gryffindor's heart to know that it would mean a lot for both of them.

"Neither have I," Harry returned as he ran a hand down Draco's side, enjoying the feel of warm skin beneath his fingertips. "Kiss me," He pleaded with the Slytherin, his heart racing in the confines of his chest, threatening to break free. Of course Draco obliged, leaning forward and capturing his lips, catching Harry's lower lip between his teeth and giving a gentle nip causing Harry to groan with longing.

The Slytherin hesitantly took control, pushing Harry against the mattress and straddling him there. Their lips never breaking apart as they hastily rid themselves of the final fabric barrier between their bodies.

Both were beyond nervous as their roles were reversed, a show of the amount of trust between the two of them, the amount of love. They were finally together again. It had been too long, too many doubts had passed through both of their minds but it no longer mattered. In this horrible bedroom in the leaky cauldron they currently shared they would rebuild what had been shattered when harry had walked out after the first time they had made love.

Harry knew that whatever kind of relationship they would have it would never be perfect. His adoptive family would never understand or approve but they would at least let him live his life the way that made him happy. There was no denying that Draco made him happy. He couldn't lie to himself and say that he didn't love the blonde Slytherin, despite his flaws and his mistakes.

None of the survivors of the Great battle of Hogwarts to claim that they had never made mistakes, granted Draco's were more severe than most but he was only human. They both were human. They both had regrets in their lives, things they wished they could take back, wished that they could change. They couldn't though, all they could do was keep on moving forward. They could accept each other and the mistakes they had made, they could love one another like none of it mattered. Somehow they would find a way and they would make it work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this story. It was certainly great fun to write. 
> 
> You can now find me on facebook, just search for my penname (Strawberrygirl87) and you'll find me. I'll be putting updates on my stories and such plus things like school timetables and other notes about the stories I'm working on. Or you can just come and say hello to me. :-)


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